Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP)

Wampanoag Nation

Which tribal/Indigenous community is your program/institution affiliated with? 

WLRP is a non-profit that serves the Assonet Band of Wampanoag, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, and the Herring Pond Band of Wampanoag

How many staff members work for your program/institution? 

We have 11 paid staff members, but we also have a lot of community members that volunteer their time to teach or as needed

How long has your program/institution existed? 

Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project started in 1993, and we picked up a lot of momentum as a more funded project in 2010

What is the contact information for your program/institution (e.g. mailing address, website, Facebook Page, etc.)? 

www.wlrp.org

Mailing/Physical Address:

Please provide a brief description (approximately 5 sentences) about your program/institution. 

The WLRP began in 1993 under the direction of project founder,  jessie ‘little doe’ baird. Wôpanâôt8âôk (Wampanoag Language) is one of more than three dozen languages belonging to the Algonquian language family. It was the first American Indian language to develop and use an alphabetic writing system. The primary goal of the WLRP is to return language fluency to the Wampanoag Nation as a principal means of expression. We hope to reach that goal through the collaborative efforts of the members of the Assonet Band of Wampanoag, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, and the Herring Pond Band of Wampanoag

What are challenges your program/institution has faced?

The biggest barrier to achieving our mission, which is having Wampanoag as a primary mode of communication and having a lot of speakers, is having the financial resources to keep the work funded. It is lifelong work, especially when you’re not a native speaker. There’s a lot going into keeping up your own proficiency, raising up other speakers, and making materials, so having the financial resources to do that is really a challenge. Oftentimes, unfortunately, especially in Indian Country, there are a lot of competitive grants. I’m definitely an advocate for more noncompetitive funding for language as a basic human right that was stripped from us and our people for a long time. A lot of these funding opportunities are very specific and the lack of prevalence of general operating funds for language work is challenging. 

I think for the work in general, one of the issues is turnover in raising up speakers. When we are working with master-apprentice styles to make new speakers, it takes a long term commitment and it’s a challenge when someone moves on from the work. Oftentimes, I think, it’s related to a lack of resources as well. When it comes to language work we really need people who are committed and rooted in the community, but you also need resources to keep them gainfully employed so they can support themselves and their families. 

What are existing projects your program/institution is working on? 

We have a variety of programs. We offer a wide variety of community language classes year round, grammar and immersion based classes, after school programs for children to boost literacy and language, language classes in the local high school, a Wampanoag Montessori school for children 3-9 (Wampasorri), professional development trainings, culture and language history trainings, and a summer program for children 5-12 that focuses on immersion, cultural arts and crafts, and storytelling.

What are the short-term goals for your program institution (present-day – one month from now)? 

The First Nation Development Institute has been hosting a language leaders group, and I’ve been working with the language leaders to advocate for more resources, to work together as a collective, more coalition building, all to gain more leverage nationally to get more resources into language work. We’re also developing our new strategic plan and preparing for the upcoming school and program year. We were also just awarded funds from the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) for proficiency training for new teacher training

What are the long-term goals for your program/institution (1 year – 5 years from now)? 

Definitely increasing speakers and increasing the resources to aid them in proficiency training. Additionally, working on external partnerships so we can do more youth outreach throughout the state. We have a large population of people who don’t live near the reservation due to gentrification, and we still want to be able to reach them and provide them more access. In the next 2-5 years, we want to be able to provide our classes for credit and have those credentials be acknowledged state-wide.

From your perspective, how do you view the language activity in your tribe? 

We take on the approach that everyone is fluent, but everyone has different proficiency levels. We use the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) scale to determine whether someone is a novice, intermediate, advanced, or distinguished speaker. I’d say the majority of our community are novice and intermediate speakers, and there are over 500 students in the community. We probably have somewhere between 5-10 advanced speakers, and that’s been a challenge because a lot of proficiency was stalled for the last 2-3 years.