AK HCR19

Alaska is home to 20 officially recognized Alaska Native languages that are in critical danger of being lost, with the last fluent speakers of all 20 languages potentially disappearing by the end of the 21st century if current rates of language loss continue since the 1970s

The Eyak language lost its last fluent speaker in 2008, demonstrating the urgent threat facing Alaska Native languages

House Bill 216 (2014) and Senate Bill 130 (2012) previously established the 20 Alaska Native languages as official state languages and created the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council

The legislature urges Governor Bill Walker to recognize a linguistic emergency and work with the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council and state agencies to ensure survival and continued use of all 20 Alaska Native languages

Research shows that early, total language immersion education increases academic proficiency in both the immersion language and English, and indigenous peoples should be able to provide education in their own languages using culturally appropriate teaching methods