00            CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 19(CRA) am                                                            
01 Urging Governor Bill Walker to issue an administrative order recognizing a linguistic                                   
02 emergency.                                                                                                              
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04 WHEREAS the state is home to 20 officially recognized Alaska Native languages,                                        
05 Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unangax^, Dena'ina, Deg Xinag,                                
06 Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich'in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross, H?n,                                   
07 Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, alongside English; and                                                      
08       WHEREAS House Bill No. 216, enacted as ch. 116, SLA 2014, signed into law by                                    
09 Governor Sean Parnell, adding the 20 Alaska Native languages to the official languages of the                           
10 state, was the culmination of hundreds of hours of effort by legislators, Alaska Natives, and                           
11 others; and                                                                                                             
12 WHEREAS Senate Bill No. 130, enacted as ch. 48, SLA 2012, signed into law by                                          
13 Governor Sean Parnell, established the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory                                 
14 Council to advise both the governor and legislature on programs, policies, and projects to                              
15 provide for the cost-effective preservation, restoration, and revitalization of Alaska Native                           
16 languages in the state; and                                                                                             
01 WHEREAS the state is in critical danger of losing those languages and, according to                                   
02 the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, the state may lose the last                               
03 fluent speakers of all 20 Alaska Native languages by the end of the 21st century if current                             
04 rates of language loss continue as they have since the 1970s; and                                                       
05       WHEREAS one Alaska Native language, Eyak, lost its last fluent speaker in 2008;                                 
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS 50 years of research shows that early, total language immersion                                         
08 education for English speakers increases academic proficiency in both English and the                                   
09 immersion language, as well as in other academic subjects; and                                                          
10 WHEREAS indigenous peoples should be able to provide education in the peoples'                                        
11 own languages in a manner that is appropriate to the peoples' cultural methods of teaching and                          
12 learning; and                                                                                                           
13 WHEREAS language is an important element of culture, and the use of Alaska Native                                     
14 languages can strengthen Alaska Native culture in a mutually reinforcing cycle;                                         
15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Governor, the Alaska                                       
16 Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, and other state agencies to work                                     
17 expeditiously and actively with the legislature and Alaska Native organizations to ensure the                           
18 survival and continued use of all 20 of the state's Alaska Native languages; and be it                                  
19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the Governor,                                           
20 in cooperation with the legislature, to work with Alaska Native organizations to initiate and                           
21 strengthen, as appropriate, legislative and policy measures that prioritize the survival and                            
22 continued use of Alaska Native languages; and be it                                                                     
23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Governor Bill                                                
24 Walker to issue an administrative order recognizing a linguistic emergency.