Language Program Directory Information
Which Tribal/Indigenous community is your program/institution affiliated with?
Hualapai Tribe
How many staff members work for your program/institution?
9
How long has your program/institution existed?
30 years
What is the contact information for your program/institution (e.g. mailing address, website, Facebook Page, etc.)?
PO Box 310, Peach Springs AZ, 86434
Phone: (928) 769-2223
Please provide a brief description (approximately 5 sentences) about your program/institution.
The goals of the Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources (HDCR) are to preserve and protect the cultural resources of the Hualapai Tribe. The HDCR sponsors Friday Culture Arts and Language Classes and through grant awards administers an intergenerational Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project. In the summer the department sponsors a week long language immersion camp for youth, and during the school year language classes are held twice a week at the cultural center in the evenings. These projects promote community cultural revitalization efforts in the community
What are challenges your program/institution has faced?
Although we have a number of language learning projects and programs we offer, we still struggle to produce new fluent speakers. Without fluent speakers bringing the language into the home as the everyday language, our efforts are fragmented. Full time immersion is necessary to produce fully fluent speakers. For this reason we have expanded our efforts to include language immersion at the Hualapai Head Start made possible through a 3 year ANA grant.
What are existing projects your program/institution is working on?
Our Hualapai Department of Cultural Resources is working diligently with the Tribes Head Start program to begin teaching through language immersion for four hours a day. In addition to this effort, other language based cultural programming is offered at our cultural center throughout the year. This includes our Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project, Cultural Arts and Language Classes, and weekly community language classes.
What are the short-term goals for your program institution (present-day – one month from now)?
To maintain consistent cultural programming in the community people can participate in on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for language classes, and all day Fridays for Culture Arts and Language classes.
What are the long-term goals for your program/institution (1 year – 5 years from now)?
Our long term goals are to implement long term language immersion program at the Head Start to target children ages 3-5 still in early stages of language acquisition.
From your perspective, how do you view the language activity in your tribe?
Many language learning programs are offered, and we need to continue to encourage our elders to speak in the language as much as possible. We have many written publications in the heritage language but hearing it spoken everyday is a must! Kudos to those who speak and encourage others to do so, this fosters a good learning environment for second language learners.