Tanana Chiefs holds first culture camp for K-6 students

The Doyon region holds ten Athabascan languages plus Iñupiaq, half of all the Native languages spoken in Alaska. The Doyon Foundation says every one of them is severely or critically endangered, and that they will be lost within a few generations if nothing changes. In July, a room of Fairbanks elementary students spent an afternoon learning to name animals in them.

The game was Go Fish. TCC Tribal Resource Stewardship Director Diloola Erickson ran it on the second day of Tanana Chiefs Conference's first Family Service and Support Culture Camp, held July 22 and 23 at Effie Kokrine Charter School. Kindergarten through third grade came in the mornings, fourth through sixth in the afternoons. The organizers intend to make it annual.

The Doyon Foundation's Language Revitalization Team taught on the first day. The Dene Enslaanh dance group taught potlatch dancing and singing. The rest of it was beading, drum painting, Native Games, wilderness survival kits, career exploration and greeting cards for Elders.

The Foundation's other language work runs at a different scale and a different pace. A three-year federal grant of $812,142 funded a mentor-apprentice program pairing fluent speakers one-on-one with learners, and the Foundation has built online courses for several of the region's languages.

TCC runs the camp out of the same division as TCC GO, the program it hopes these students land in as high schoolers. TCC GO offers dual credit courses, career guidance and stipends to seniors who complete the FAFSA, apply for scholarships or submit college applications. Fairbanks students have to be enrolled in a federally recognized tribe within the TCC region. Students in off-road villages in the region qualify regardless.

At the Emerging Leaders Youth Summit near Fairbanks earlier this year, youth from across the TCC region named language revitalization among their six advocacy priorities.