A22AP00158

AANIIIH NAKODA MENTOR APPRENTICE LANGUAGE PROJECT
FORT BELKNAP COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION DBA NAKODA AANIIIH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
189 CHIPPEWA AVENUE
P O BOX 1177
HARLEM, MT 59526
406 353 4260 OFFICE
406 301 3005 CELL
WWW.FORTBELKNAPCEDC.ORG

AANIIIH NAKODA MENTOR APPRENTICE LANGUAGE PROJECT ABSTRACT

THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY INCLUDES SOME 3,000 MEMBERS OF THE NAKODA ASSINIBOINE AND AANIIIH GROS VENTRE PEOPLE LIVING ON THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN RESERVATION IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. AN IMPOVERISHED NATION WITH AN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF BETTER THAN 60% AND A PER CAPITA INCOME THAT IS ROUGHLY HALF THE NATIONAL AVERAGE, THE NAKODA AND AANIIIH PEOPLES HAVE TIED THEIR FUTURE ECONOMIC WELL-BEING TO A REVITALIZATION OF THE GROS VENTRE AND ASSINBOINE CULTURES.

THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING ENTITY OF THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY, HAS CREATED TWO DISTINCT ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE PURPOSES OF STRENGTHENING THE ECONOMY. THE FORT BELKNAP COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (FBCEDC) WAS CREATED TO BUILD A STRONG FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY THROUGH BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. THE OTHER, ISLAND MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT GROUP (IMDG), WAS DEVELOPED TO FOSTER A SELF-SUSTAINING ECONOMY BY CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE AANIIIH AND NAKODA NATIONS THROUGH BUSINESS, JOBS, AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. IMDG OPERATES A NUMBER OF BUSINESSES ON THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN RESERVATION, INCLUDING A CALL CENTER WITH NEARLY 300 EMPLOYEES.

THE AANIIIH NAKODA COMMUNITY CHILD AND EDUCATION CENTER (ANCCEC) WAS CREATED TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF IMDG'S EMPLOYEES FOR QUALITY CHILDCARE. WITH PREVIOUS FUNDING FROM ANA EMI, FBCEDC PLACED A AANIIIH AND NAKODA LANGUAGE NEST, LIFE'S LANGUAGE LODGE, WITHIN THE ANC CHILD AND EDUCATION CENTER. LIFE'S LANGUAGE LODGE EMERGED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A YEARS-LONG EFFORT TO RESTORE THE AANIIIH AND NAKODA LANGUAGES AS PART OF A CULTURAL REVITALIZATION.

THE MONTANA INDIAN LANGUAGE PROJECT, OF WHICH THE LANGUAGE NEST IS A PART, AROSE FROM A YEAR-LONG COMMUNITY-WIDE PLANNING PROCESS THAT INVOLVED NUMEROUS STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING AANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE STAFF, TRIBAL ELDERS FROM BOTH TRIBES, CURRENT FLUENT SPEAKERS, INSTRUCTORS, STUDENTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND MEMBERS OF TRIBAL COUNCIL.

THE STATE OF MONTANA HAS ESTABLISHED A PROCESS FOR CERTIFYING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS. WHILE THERE ARE ONLY FOUR FLUENT AANIIIH AND NAKODA SPEAKERS WITHIN THE FORT BELKNAP INDIAN COMMUNITY, THERE ARE 21 CLASS 7 CERTIFIED LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY. THE AANIIIH LANGUAGE IS TAUGHT AT THE WHITECLAY IMMERSION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AT AANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE. BOTH AANIIIH AND NAKODA LANGUAGES ARE TAUGHT AT THE JR HIGH, HIGH SCHOOL, AND COLLEGE LEVELS.

THE PROPOSED AANIIIH NAKODA MENTOR APPRENTICE LANGUAGE PROJECT FILLS A CRITICAL GAP BY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF FLUENT AANIIIH AND NAKODA MENTOR APPRENTICE LANGUAGE SPEAKERS/INSTRUCTORS, WHICH WILL INCREASE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTORS NEEDED AT LIFE'S LANGUAGE LODGE. THE LANGUAGE MENTORS, PAIRED WITH APPRENTICES, WILL INCREASE FLUENT AANIIIH AND NAKODA LANGUAGE SPEAKERS BY PARTICIPATING IN IMMERSION ACTIVITIES AT THE LIFE'S LANGUAGE LODGE. THE MASTER APPRENTICES WILL TEACH OTHERS THE AANIIIH AND NAKODA LANGUAGES, IMPACTING THE LANGUAGE COMMUNITY ON FORT BELKNAP THROUGH THE CREATION OF NEW SPEAKERS.

Fort Belknap Community Economic Development

15.032 - Indian Economic Development

Central Office [DOI - BIA]

Hays, Montana United States

City-Wide

Living Language Grant Program FY2022 (LLGP-FY-2022)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 07/31/23 to 06/30/24.