Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
04/14/2023 01:30 PM House FINANCE
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB93 | |
| HB26 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 93 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 26 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE BILL NO. 26
"An Act renaming the Alaska Native Language
Preservation and Advisory Council as the Council for
Alaska Native Languages; and relating to the Council
for Alaska Native Languages."
2:30:16 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ANDI STORY, SPONSOR, introduced herself and
the legislation. She related that the Alaska Native
Language Preservation and Advisory Council (ANLPAC) was
th
created by the 27 legislature and the governor appointed 5
voting members that were professional language experts from
diverse regions of the state. Additionally, there were two
non-voting members; one from the House and one from the
Senate. Representative Story shared that she was one of the
non-voting members. She shared that the bill had been
before the committee in the past. She relayed the council's
purpose and mission:
• The Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory
Council provides recommendations and advice to both
the Governor and Legislature on programs, policies,
and projects; and to network and advocate in support
of the Council's mission.
• The mission of ANLPAC is to advocate for the survival
and revitalization of Alaska Native languages through
collaboration and sharing for all.
Representative Story explained that HB 26 changed three
things that had to be accomplished via statute. The first
provision was to shorten the council's name, the second was
to expand the membership, and expand the list of languages
to include Native languages that had inadvertently been
left out of the prior bill. She emphasized that the
provisions were significant to the council. The name change
to the "Council for Alaska Native Languages emphasized its
broader focus, which included more than just language
preservation but also embraced restoration, and
revitalization of Alaska Native languages. The Council also
requested an increase in membership from five to seven
members in recognition that there were 23 Native languages
in Alaska. The additional members would capture a greater
perspective, allow for greater language representation, and
expanded the involvement for various regions. Finally, the
bill revised the official list of Alaska Native languages
that were the co-official languages of Alaska established
in 2015. The current list of 20 languages was based on a
1974 map by Dr. Michael Krauss, but it was discovered that
23 languages exist. She urged the committee to pass the
legislation. She informed the committee that the bill
packets included one fiscal note and a summary by the
Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council
(copy on file).
2:34:49 PM
MIRANDA WORL, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE ANDI STORY, reviewed
the sectional analysis (copy on file):
Section 1: Amends AS 44.12.310(a) to add Cup'ig and
Weta
(Ts'etsa'ut) as official languages of Alaska and
divide Tanana into the Benhti Kokhwt'ana Kenaga'
(Lower Tanana) and Sahcheeg xut'een xneege' (Middle
Tanana) languages.
Section 2: Amends AS 44.33.520(a) to simplify the name
of the Council from "Alaska Native Language
Preservation and Advisory Council" to "Council for
Alaska Native Languages."
Section 3: Amends AS 44.33.520(c) by changing voting
members from "five" to "seven.
Co-Chair Foster asked for a review of the fiscal note.
Ms. Worl reviewed the fiscal impact note from Department of
Commerce, Community and Economic Development (CED) FN1. She
relayed that the fiscal note appropriated $10 thousand in
travel costs to allow the two additional members to travel
to two meetings per year as per statute.
2:36:53 PM
YAAYUK ALVANNA-STIMPFLE, CO-CHAIR, ANLPAC, NOME (via
teleconference), provided testimony in support of the
legislation. She addressed each section of the bill. She
referred to Section 1 and informed the committee that the
section added native languages to the list of official
languages in the state as follows: Cipig, Upper Tanana,
Middle Tanana, and Lower Tanana. She read from a prepared
statement.:
Council for Alaska Native Languages: What does it
mean.
Section 2:
1) Preservation
A. Archives: this means working in archives where
Native languages were recorded from years past. There
are large and small archival repositories where new
generations can be supported to acquire and learn
their respective languages.
B. Media: There are resources online on the internet
for learners and researchers to find information to
develop learning materials. Indigenous people share
what they have learned what works for their
communities and learning institutions.
Ms. Alvanna-Stimpfle provided an example of her daughter
who taught Inupiaq to her students all day without speaking
English and other Inupiaq speaking school districts were
interested in visiting her class to observe how she teaches
her students.
C. Community Wellness: Indigenous people work towards
wellness for adults to learn what was lost from their
past treatments of knowing how to speak to home
language at schools and churches. This caused Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder for the next generations. To
break this trauma, Indigenous have worked hard on
cultural wellness in arts and ceremonies to revitalize
what was lost.
2) Restoration
A. Reclaim in restoring our Native languages, we are
reclaiming who we are and where we come from. We have
come from thousands of years of not only surviving
harsh environments but also, thriving in that very
environment. Our languages comes from our land, sea,
and resources in the air.
B. Rebirth and Renaissance: This is the time (today,
now) for revival of all of our Alaska Native
languages. The language council works towards to this,
where our languages are normalized in the whole State.
Ms. Alvanna-Stimpfle interjected that she had travelled
with her daughter to a town north of Quebec, Canada where
every person spoke their native language.
3) Revitalization
A. Build on Native Identity: When a young person
learns in the language, they are forming an Indigenous
identity. (Note, not learning the language).
B. Moving Forward: The ultimate result is for cultural
wellness and being able to speak from the Native
perspective.
Ms. Alvanna-Stimpfle related that the native perspective
was very different than how its expressed in English and
the train of thought was different. She emphasized that the
young people needed to learn their languages because they
would be responsible for teaching them in the future.
Section 3:
4) Seven Voting Members Alaska needs to hear from a
wider community of Alaska Native language experts and
the advocates of language warriors. This makes for a
stronger network of language work with the same
perspective of revitalizing Indigenous languages in
Alaska.
She concluded that the council highly supported the bill.
She thanked the committee.
2:42:16 PM
Representative Josephson asked if there were languages that
had not survived since the first contact with non-native
people in 1741.
Representative Story replied that if a language was not
being spoken currently it was considered dormant. She
deferred to Ms. Alvanna-Stimpfle for further answer.
Ms. Alvanna-Stimpfle replied that Eyak was disappearing in
the 1980s and linguists like Dr. Michael Krauss worked
diligently with the last remaining speakers to document the
language. Amazingly, a young French linguist learned the
language with the help of Dr. Krauss and had been working
with families to revitalize the language. She was unaware
of any other languages lost but was sure there were others.
Co-Chair Foster noted the bill would be heard again.
Representative Story reiterated that the council published
an annual Summary of Recommendations for the legislature
and governor. She highlighted the recommendation to restore
full funding to the council. She indicated that the council
had lost its funding for administrative support. The
council was currently operating with only one full time
research analyst. She would welcome an amendment to restore
the administrative position. She urged the committee to
read the entire document.
HB 26 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
Co-Chair Foster reviewed the schedule for the following
meeting.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB026 Additional Documents-Alaska 23 Indigenous Languages 03.27.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 26 |
| HB026 Additional Documents-ANLPAC 2022 Summary of Recommendations 03.27.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 26 |
| HB026 Sectional Analysis 03.27.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 26 |
| HB026 Sponsor Statement 03.21.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 26 |
| HB026 Summary of Changes 03.27.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 26 |
| HB 93 DOF Lumber Grading Presentation 4.13.23.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 93 |
| HB 93 Sectional Analysis Version A.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 93 |
| HB 93 Letters of Support bundle.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 93 |
| HB 93 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 4/14/2023 1:30:00 PM |
HB 93 |