Hilo, Hi, January 8, 2014: The 'Aha Punana Leo, Language Nest
Foundation, has been awarded a forty thousand dollar grant to bring
in native language revitalization leaders from across the United
States for a unique indigenous language conference to be held in
Hilo: the Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (SILS). The
already sold out conference, hosted by the University of Hawai'i
at Hilo, has registrants from 17 states and 12 countries. The event
is scheduled for January 15-19, 2014 and will take place at both
the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and the University of Hawai'i, Hilo campus
in the newly completed Hawaiian language building, Hale'olelo.
The grant awarded by the Lannan Foundation, a family foundation
dedicated to cultural freedom, diversity and creativity, will be
used to strengthen the conference primarily by funding the travel
of various Native American language revitalization school representatives
across America. Fourteen separate tribes are included.
The symposium will be focusing on Hilo, as it has the highest
concentration of young Native American language speakers anywhere
in the United States; a drastic change from fifty years ago when
no children in the area spoke Hawaiian.
A guided tour of the entire preschool through doctoral Hawaiian
language program, run through the 'Aha Punana Leo and Ka Haka Ula
O Ke'elikolani, including the Nawahiokalani'opu'u campus, is set
on the agenda, which will also include various speakers highlighting
issues relating to indigenous language revitalization including
curriculum development, government testing policies, and family
engagement.
For more information or to sign up for the symposium,
visit: http://sils2014.hawaii-conference.com
For information or to make a donation to the 'Aha Punana Leo, visit:
www.ahapunanaleo.org
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