Spílya Táimu, Warm Springs
October 19, 2022
Page 9
~ Culture & Heritage Language Lesson ~
~ Student lessons for the classroom ~
Numu ~ Paiute
Ichishkiin ~ Warm Springs
(from page 8)
Federal summit on Native languages
The U.S. departments
of the Interior, Agricul-
ture, Education and
Health and Human Ser-
vices earlier this month
held the annual Native
Languages Summit. The
Speaking Sovereignty
Summit met in Oklahoma
City.
Host this year was the
Bureau of Indian Educa-
tion. The BIE supports
Indigenous communities
seeking to protect, revi-
talize and reclaim Indig-
enous languages, many of
which were erased or
critically endangered
through assimilationist
policies, including federal
Indian boarding schools.
“The cornerstone of
any culture or community is
its languag,” said Deb
Haaland, Secretary of the
Interior.
“This is how oral histories
are passed down, knowledge
is shared, and bonds are
formed. As part of our com-
mitment to strengthening
and supporting Indigenous
communities, we are resolute
in the efforts to ensuring
Native languages are pre-
served and protected.
“The department is proud
to help lead this interagency
effort to encourage pro-
grams and projects to include
instruction in and use of Na-
tive languages.”
Last year, as part of the
2021 White House Tribal
Nations Summit, the Interior
Departments launched a
new interagency initiative
to preserve, protect and
promote the rights and
freedom of Native
Americans to use, prac-
tice, and develop Native
languages, including in
signing a memorandum
of agreement to further
the Native American Lan-
guages Act of 1990.
Topics discussed at this
month’s Native Language
Summit
included
mentoring and developing
teachers, amplifying fam-
ily and community en-
gagement, and honoring
Native people for their
contribution to Native
languages within Indig-
enous communities.
W.S. visit from Oregon Community Foundation
The Oregon Community
Foundation was in Warm
Springs last week. The new
president and chief executive
officer of the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation is Lisa
Mensah.
She came to visit the
Warm Springs community,
meeting with a group of
people at the Warm Springs
Community Action Team.
They shared about their
work, their plans, and their
challenges.
“Our challenges are seri-
ous nowadays, but they are
what make a lot of folks get
up in the morning,” Ms.
Mensah said after the meet-
ing.
“You know we just left
this fascinating table on the
Warm Springs Reservation to
hear from the leaders. And
yes, the challenges are huge.
But what I heard mostly were
these beautiful, hopeful
voices around the table,”
Mensah said.
“This leadership is leaning
in and saying, ‘We can do this.
We don’t have to wait. We can
create opportunities for our
neighbors, for our tribe for
our community.
This was the most exciting
part of the meeting at the
Community Action Team,
she said. “These kinds of
things are bridges.
“They exist in urban com-
munities and rural commu-
nities and indigenous tribal
communities. It’s people
who see a dream of change,
and then find the right part-
ners and inspire the partners
to come with them on a
journey.”
Mensah has been at the
helm of the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation for
about four weeks. Warm
Springs was one of her
first stops getting to know
communities that have
found support from the
foundation.
, which puts donated dol-
lars to work and maximizes
impact for the benefit of
people across the state. In