S. 2167 (101 st ): Native American Languages Act

Save your opinion on this bill on a six-point scale from strongly oppose to strongly support

Primary Source

Widget for your website

Follow GovTrack on social media for more updates:

Add a Note

Add a note about this bill. Your note is for you and will not be shared with anyone.

Because you are a member of panel , your positions on legislation and notes below will be shared with the panel administrators. (More Info)

The text of the bill below is as of Oct 30, 1990 (Passed Congress).

You are reading a bill enacted 12,379 days ago. In the intervening time subsequent legislation may have amended or repealed the provisions below.

Summary of this bill

The Native American Languages Act of 1990 is the short cited title for executive order PUBLIC LAW 101-477 enacted by Congress on October 30, 1990. Public Law 101-477 of 1990 gave historical importance as repudiating past policies of eradicating Indian Languages by declaring as policy that Native Americans were entitled to use their own languages. The fundamental basis of the policy's declaration was that the United States "declares to preserve, protect and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use practice and develop Native American Languages". In addition, to "fully recognize the right of Indian Tribes and other Native American governing bodies, States, territories, and possessions of the …

One Hundred First Congress of the United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of January,

one thousand nine hundred and ninety

To reauthorize the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978

and the Navajo Community College Act.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. TRIBALLY CONTROLLED COMMUNITY COLLEGES.

(a) STUDENT COUNT- (1) Section 108(a)(1) of the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1808(a)) is amended to read as follows:

‘(1) the Indian student count at such college during the academic year preceding the academic year for which such funds are being made available, as determined by the Secretary in accordance with section 2(a)(7); and’.

(2) Section 108(b)(1) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

‘(1) The Secretary shall make payments, pursuant to grants under this Act, of not less than 95 percent of the funds available for allotment by October 15 or no later than 14 days after appropriations become available, with a payment equal to the remainder of any grant to which a grantee is entitled to be made no later than January 1 of each fiscal year.’.

(3) The last subsection of section 108 of such Act, which is designated as subsection (c), is hereby designated as subsection (d).

(b) AUTHORIZATIONS- (1) Section 110(a)(1) of such Act (25 U.S.C. 1810(a)(1)) is amended by deleting ‘1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘1990 and 1991, and for fiscal year 1992, such sums as may be necessary’.

(2) Section 110(a)(2) of such Act is amended by deleting ‘1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘1990 and 1991, and for fiscal year 1992, such sums as may be necessary’.

(3) Section 110(a)(3) of such Act is amended by deleting ‘1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘1990, 1991, and 1992’.

(c) ALLOCATION- (1) Section 111(a)(1)(A) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

‘(A) the Secretary shall first allocate to each such applicant which received funds under section 107 for the preceding fiscal year an amount equal to 95 percent of the payment received by such applicant under section 108;’.

(2) Section 111(a)(1)(B)(ii) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

‘(ii) the applicant’s projected Indian student count for the academic year for which payment is being made;’.

(d) ENDOWMENTS- (1) Title III of the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1831 et seq.) is amended--

(A) by striking out ‘equal to’ in section 302(b)(2)(B) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘(or of a value) equal to half of’,

(B) by striking out ‘an equal amount of Federal capital contribution’ in section 302(b)(4) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘an amount of Federal capital contribution equal to twice the amount of (or value of) such withdrawal’,

(C) by adding at the end of section 304 the following: ‘Any real or personal property received by a tribally controlled community college as a donation or gift on or after the date of the enactment of this sentence may, to the extent of its fair market value as determined by the Secretary, be used by such college as its contribution pursuant to section 302(b)(2)(B), or as part of such contribution, as the case may be. In any case in which any such real or personal property so used is thereafter sold or otherwise disposed of by such college, the proceeds therefrom shall be deposited pursuant to section 302(b)(2)(B) but shall not again be considered for Federal capital contribution purposes.’;

(D) by inserting ‘twice the value of the property or’ after ‘equal to’ in section 305 each place it appears,

(E) by striking out ‘$350,000’ in section 305(a) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘$750,000’, and

(F) by striking out ‘and 1990’ in section 306(a) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘1990 and 1991, and for fiscal year 1992, $10,000,000’.

(2) The amendments made by paragraphs (A) through (E) of subsection (a) shall take effect October 1, 1991.

SEC. 2. NAVAJO COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

(a) AUTHORIZATION- Paragraph (1) of section 5(a) of the Navajo Community College Act (25 U.S.C. 640c-1) is amended by striking out ‘1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘1990, 1991, and 1992’.

(b) INVENTORY- Section 4 of such Act (25 U.S.C. 640c) is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

‘(c) No later than March 1991, an inventory prepared by the Navajo Community College identifying repairs, alterations, and renovations to facilities required to meet health and safety standards shall be submitted to the Secretary and appropriate committees of Congress. Within 60 days following the receipt of such inventory, the Secretary shall review the inventory, evaluating the needs identified, and transmit the written comments of the Department of the Interior to the appropriate committees of Congress, together with the Department’s evaluation prepared by the health and safety division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.’.

TITLE I--NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 101. This title may be cited as the ‘Native American Languages Act’.

SEC. 102. The Congress finds that--

(1) the status of the cultures and languages of Native Americans is unique and the United States has the responsibility to act together with Native Americans to ensure the survival of these unique cultures and languages;

(2) special status is accorded Native Americans in the United States, a status that recognizes distinct cultural and political rights, including the right to continue separate identities;

(3) the traditional languages of Native Americans are an integral part of their cultures and identities and form the basic medium for the transmission, and thus survival, of Native American cultures, literatures, histories, religions, political institutions, and values;

(4) there is a widespread practice of treating Native Americans languages as if they were anachronisms;

(5) there is a lack of clear, comprehensive, and consistent Federal policy on treatment of Native American languages which has often resulted in acts of suppression and extermination of Native American languages and cultures;

(6) there is convincing evidence that student achievement and performance, community and school pride, and educational opportunity is clearly and directly tied to respect for, and support of, the first language of the child or student;

(7) it is clearly in the interests of the United States, individual States, and territories to encourage the full academic and human potential achievements of all students and citizens and to take steps to realize these ends;

(8) acts of suppression and extermination directed against Native American languages and cultures are in conflict with the United States policy of self-determination for Native Americans;

(9) languages are the means of communication for the full range of human experiences and are critical to the survival of cultural and political integrity of any people; and

(10) language provides a direct and powerful means of promoting international communication by people who share languages.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 103. For purposes of this title--

(1) The term ‘Native American’ means an Indian, Native Hawaiian, or Native American Pacific Islander.

(2) The term ‘Indian’ has the meaning given to such term under section 5351(4) of the Indian Education Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2651(4)).

(3) The term ‘Native Hawaiian’ has the meaning given to such term by section 4009 of Public Law 100-297 (20 U.S.C. 4909).

(4) The term ‘Native American Pacific Islander’ means any descendent of the aboriginal people of any island in the Pacific Ocean that is a territory or possession of the United States.

(5) The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ have the respective meaning given to each of such terms under section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).

(6) The term ‘Native American language’ means the historical, traditional languages spoken by Native Americans.

(7) The term ‘traditional leaders’ includes Native Americans who have special expertise in Native American culture and Native American languages.

(8) The term ‘Indian reservation’ has the same meaning given to the term ‘reservation’ under section 3 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 (25 U.S.C. 1452).

DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 104. It is the policy of the United States to--

(1) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages;

(2) allow exceptions to teacher certification requirements for Federal programs, and programs funded in whole or in part by the Federal Government, for instruction in Native American languages when such teacher certification requirements hinder the employment of qualified teachers who teach in Native American languages, and to encourage State and territorial governments to make similar exceptions;

(3) encourage and support the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction in order to encourage and support--

(A) Native American language survival,

(B) educational opportunity,

(C) increased student success and performance,

(D) increased student awareness and knowledge of their culture and history, and

(E) increased student and community pride;

(4) encourage State and local education programs to work with Native American parents, educators, Indian tribes, and other Native American governing bodies in the implementation of programs to put this policy into effect;

(5) recognize the right of Indian tribes and other Native American governing bodies to use the Native American languages as a medium of instruction in all schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior;

(6) fully recognize the inherent right of Indian tribes and other Native American governing bodies, States, territories, and possessions of the United States to take action on, and give official status to, their Native American languages for the purpose of conducting their own business;

(7) support the granting of comparable proficiency achieved through course work in a Native American language the same academic credit as comparable proficiency achieved through course work in a foreign language, with recognition of such Native American language proficiency by institutions of higher education as fulfilling foreign language entrance or degree requirements; and

(8) encourage all institutions of elementary, secondary and higher education, where appropriate, to include Native American languages in the curriculum in the same manner as foreign languages and to grant proficiency in Native American languages the same full academic credit as proficiency in foreign languages.

SEC. 105. The right of Native Americans to express themselves through the use of Native American languages shall not be restricted in any public proceeding, including publicly supported education programs.

SEC. 106. (a) The President shall direct the heads of the various Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to--

(1) evaluate their policies and procedures in consultation with Indian tribes and other Native American governing bodies as well as traditional leaders and educators in order to determine and implement changes needed to bring the policies and procedures into compliance with the provisions of this title;

(2) give the greatest effect possible in making such evaluations, absent a clear specific Federal statutory requirement to the contrary, to the policies and procedures which will give the broadest effect to the provisions of this title; and

(3) evaluate the laws which they administer and make recommendations to the President on amendments needed to bring such laws into compliance with the provisions of this title.

(b) By no later than the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this title, the President shall submit to the Congress a report containing recommendations for amendments to Federal laws that are needed to bring such laws into compliance with the provisions of this title.

SEC. 107. Nothing in this title shall be construed as precluding the use of Federal funds to teach English to Native Americans.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.