Latest news with #Jemez
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indigenous-language immersion schools aim to reverse cultural loss
JEMEZ PUEBLO — The words escape slowly from Eleanor Tafoya when she speaks of the decline of the Jemez language among the Pueblo's youth. 'If we don't do anything, we're going to lose our traditions or culture," she said. A teacher and girls' basketball coach for 40 years in Jemez Day School, she elected to teach her mostly Jemez students a word every day in the Jemez language, sometimes referred to as Towa. Students would otherwise only receive at most an hour of Jemez language instruction a day. "We were saying that one hour is OK — but it's not enough," she said. "With what we're seeing now with our little ones — them being more and more English speakers — one hour isn't going to cut it. We need a full version. 'So, I don't know,' she said somberly. 'It's hard.' Restoring the spoken rates of Indigenous languages is one of the goals of Senate Bill 13, which would authorize tribes and pueblos to form their own state-funded schools through a state-tribal education compact, empowering them to integrate their educational priorities into curriculum, including language and cultural education. 'When I was born, [the rate of knowing Jemez] was probably almost 100%,' said Sen. Benny Shendo, D-Jemez Pueblo, lead sponsor of the bill. 'Now we're probably hovering around 60%," he said. "But the tribe has made the conscious decision to do language immersion early on before it drops any lower.' Jemez Pueblo, as of this school year, now has two schools teaching almost entirely in the Jemez language — Walatowa Headstart for kids as old as 7, and the K-8 Hemish Pilot Immersion School. This means, if parents choose, students can be taught almost entirely in Jemez from early childhood through eighth grade, with academic English classes being introduced around fifth grade. Both immersion programs are pilots funded by public and private grants, with the pueblo only this last school year expanding the programs up to eighth grade. For Tafoya, who develops curriculum and occasionally substitute teaches the immersion classes, 'it's full circle,' she said. How does Jemez language immersion look? Creating a curriculum from the ground up is hardly a straightforward task, but an unwritten, spoken language like Jemez presents even more challenges than normal. A packet detailing learning objectives of the Jemez language immersion programs moves from social and emotional development for young learners to development of familial and traditional ideas to culturally integrated learning of concepts like cardinal direction and time. With little local institutional support to build Indigenous language immersion programs, the pueblo looked to the University of Hawaii at Hilo's Hawaiian language immersion program to develop a teacher licensure program for the Jemez language. In the Hemish pilot school, teacher Melissa Yepa walks Ryder Yepa through long multiplication in the Jemez language. Ryder rearranges cube models correlating to 1, 10, and 100 to solve Jemez word problems the teacher poses. At the top of Ryder's page is one of the few spots of English in the classroom: the words "base 10." "What we struggle with here is making sure that the kids have the language at home," Yepa said. English, Yepa said, has become the "easy" language — and parents are concerned about academic English literacy for the sake of standardized tests, which she called "irrelevant" to "the true growth of our students." Yepa, who taught for 18 years as a kindergarten teacher in Jemez Pueblo in a nonimmersion setting, said "as the years progressed, we were beginning to hear more and more English. So that was really a time for me to rethink my role as a teacher within my own community.' Now, after over a year of teaching in the immersion program, "there is a big change in the students and their confidence," she said, especially within traditional practices which rely heavily on language. Compared to bilingual multicultural education Many ideals of the Jemez program mirror the goals of bilingual multicultural education programs, which usually aim to build literacy in two languages in students and prioritize integrating cultural education with language. Where the Jemez program differs is that it assumes students will learn English regardless of instruction — English being the language of technology and, increasingly, the language spoken in Jemez homes. So, English is a little more taboo in these classrooms than in bilingual ones. Both doors have a 'no English' sign on the outside and educators go through great efforts to enforce it, even scheduling students' recess at a different time from English-speaking students from the charter school nearby. There's not much written English in the classroom, but there are blots of phonetic-notation Jemez around. Kids as young as kindergarten are quizzed orally on Jemez vocabulary for birds and local wildlife. Unwritten challenges That's not to say there is no written instruction for students before fifth grade's academic English introduction. Students learn from another written language before English — Spanish. The days of the week for example, are posted on whiteboards in Spanish — and there are a few reasons for it. For one, the Jemez language is influenced by and derives vocabulary from Spanish in place of the words the language lacks, such as the days of the week. Another reason is it presents an opportunity to provide a framework of written instruction to students without resorting to English. Kevin Shendo, director of the Jemez Department of Education, expressed the intention to expand Spanish in the younger grades' classrooms "because of the correlation of the languages from history — but also to give them the written literacy earlier," he said. But it's not necessarily an ideal situation — using a second language in a monolingual immersion setting. That's part of the reason, Shendo said, the pueblo is forming a "lexicon team" made up of teachers and community members, charged with creating new Jemez words for modern concepts like refrigerator, smartphone or airplane. For now, those words need to be either borrowed from another language or referred to descriptively with multiple words — such as airplane, called "one that flies above," in Jemez, Shendo said. 'We don't want to continue saying them in English,' he said. 'So we have to decide: are we going to define them for ourselves?'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pushing for their say: Tribes supporting bill to create Indigenous-language compact schools
JEMEZ PUEBLO — From the 1800s to the 1960s, generations of Native American students suffered abuses in boarding schools run by the U.S. government that were designed to stamp out their cultural and tribal ties. Students often were punished for speaking Native languages and forced to convert to Christianity. Now, some tribal leaders in New Mexico are championing legislation they maintain will help preserve Indigenous languages as a part of the Native self-determination movement, allowing tribes and pueblos to bolster funding for schools on tribal land that emphasize the teaching of Native languages and culturally relevant material. "There has been a concerted effort by the federal government to do away with us, basically," said state Sen. Benny Shendo Jr., D-Jemez Pueblo, a sponsor of Senate Bill 13. "Indian boarding schools, the purpose is to move kids away from home, a way to assimilate us into American culture and so forth. "All along, we've resisted," Shendo said. "We still resist today." 022725_JemezPueblo 2 Ricardo Gachupin and a group of students from the Walatowa Early Childhood Learning Center participate in a group dance on the playground Thursday. Indigenous language immersion programs — like the one at Walatowa — not only want to instruct students in tribal languages but also want to prioritize integrating cultural education with the language. The legislation would amend state code to create state-tribal education compact schools, authorizing the New Mexico Public Education Department to enter into compacts with Indian nations, tribes and pueblos to create language and culture-based institutions. Tribes and pueblos would be in full control of what is taught in terms of curriculum. However, the bill also would make proposed state-tribal compact schools eligible for state funding through the state equalization guarantee, the state's public school funding formula. Jemez Pueblo, in particular, has sought to be a model in this regard. This week, the door of a classroom on the pueblo held a sign reading "No English." The young students inside will not start taking any lessons in English until around the fifth grade. 022725_JemezPueblo 7 A sign reading 'No English' posted on the door of one of the classrooms at the Hemish Pilot Immersion School on Thursday last week. "In the world we live in today, we are inundated with English," said Kevin Shendo, the education director at the pueblo. He said the goal of the immersion program is to ground children in the language of Jemez before introducing English instruction later in order to strengthen cultural and community ties. Kevin Shendo, the education director at the pueblo, said the idea is to ground children in the language of Jemez — the Native language specific to the pueblo — before introducing English instruction later in order to strengthen cultural and community ties, while making the students well rounded and confident. He pointed to studies indicating students who are strong in two languages can excel academically. "In the world we live in today, we are inundated with English," Shendo said, meaning those students are picking up plenty of English outside the classroom anyway. He added he believes introducing English-based instruction around the fifth grade is in the service of bolstering educational opportunities for students. Jemez is an oral language and is not written. "You're looking at more of the specialized academic content areas [after the fifth grade]. And our goal really isn't to make Jemez an academic language," Shendo said. The pueblo, a sovereign community at the foot of Redondo Peak about 50 miles west of Santa Fe, has a pilot language immersion program, known as the Hemish Language Immersion Pilot School, serving about 17 students from kindergarten through the eighth grade. But the goal, which the legislation would help aid, is to increase the number of students in those programs and shore up funding. Currently, the immersion program at Jemez Pueblo is supported primarily through private grants. There's plenty of competition for students. That comes as the educational options for Indigenous young people in Jemez Pueblo remain ample, with state-run charter schools, public schools and schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education located within an hour of the pueblo. As it stands, 148 Jemez young people are enrolled in the Jemez Valley Public School District in Sandoval County, 93 are enrolled in Albuquerque Public Schools and 74 are enrolled in Rio Rancho Public Schools. At Jemez Pueblo, which has a population of around 2,000 people, the aim is to get more of those students into the immersion program, which has Native teachers grounded in the Jemez language and culture. 022725_JemezPueblo 3 Chandler Two Eagle holds up a tiny carrot seedling last week while working with educational assistant Derek Yepa, not pictured, on transplanting the carrots into larger containers at the Hemish Pilot Immersion School on Jemez Pueblo. The K-8 school operates with Walatowa Headstart for kids as old as 7 on the pueblo, with both being funded by public and private grants. Other tribal leaders in New Mexico are also on board with the bill. At least eight Indigenous languages are spoken in New Mexico, some of which are viewed as endangered. "We at Santa Ana are looking to begin a program such as what is proposed here in this bill. Our languages, including in Santa Ana, are endangered, so we are trying to not lose it for the future generations," said Jay Garcia of Santa Ana Pueblo, speaking in support of the bill at a Feb. 18 Senate Finance Committee meeting. A boost for tribal autonomy? The bill has received support so far in the 2025 New Mexico legislative session, winning a 38-0 vote on the Senate floor this week. Before the powerful Senate Finance Committee, it had the support of both Republicans and Democrats. The bill would allow administrators at Jemez Pueblo to strengthen funding streams for the work they are doing. Officials maintain the bill supports tribal autonomy and allows for the development of curriculum that reflects their values and priorities, including the preservation of Native languages. There is a range of educational models that can be found on tribal property in the state. In addition to New Mexico's public schools, there are charter schools on tribal land, and then there are schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, such as the Santa Fe Indian School. — i'm cutting this because it's redunant with the graf above Under the bill, the governing body for an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo could submit a resolution to the New Mexico Public Education Department to create a compact school serving any grades between prekindergarten and 12th grade. Here's how it would work: Once an application is submitted to create a potential compact school, the education department would convene a government-to-government meeting for negotiating the terms of the compact. The agreements would have a term of five years and would include provisions related to compliance, notices of violation, dispute resolution, recordkeeping and auditing, delineation of responsibilities, compact renewability and compact termination, according to a Legislative Finance Committee analysis of the bill. There is some concern the bill could create conflict in the competition for students and perhaps lower enrollment at public schools in the state. That could create fiscal impacts for school districts and charter schools if enrollment in proposed state-tribal compact schools shifts enrollment away from current school districts and charter schools, a Legislative Education Study Committee bill analysis has found. Historically, educational outcomes for Native American students have been consistently below those of their non-Native peers in the state, according to a bill analysis from the state's Legislative Education Study Committee. The analysis found 25% of Native American students scored proficient in reading in the 2023-24 school year, and 13% of Native American students scored proficient in math over that same period. "The tribes I represent believe it's time. The two tribes I represent are also tired of our children failing in schools, the public schools. They are tired of low graduation rates," said Conroy Chino, who spoke on behalf of Taos Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo at the committee meeting. "I just think it's fantastic. You guys do know what's best for your kids," said state Sen. Steve Lanier, R-Aztec, also during the Senate Finance Committee meeting. Similar legislation was introduced in 2023. Also sponsored by Shendo Jr., it passed the Senate but not the House, where action was postponed at the House Education Committee level. That is where this session's legislation currently resides following the Senate floor vote Feb. 25. A complicated past and present Jemez is also the only language one hears in the Walatowa Early Childhood Learning Center at Jemez Pueblo, which includes its early childhood and Head Start Language Immersion programs. When Jemez Pueblo started Jemez immersion at its Head Start program, Shendo said that it became obvious children would lose much of those early gains with the language once they reached kindergarten and began attending a Bureau of Indian Education school, a public school or charter school, where the medium of instruction is English. "That's when we realized that we need an option, K-6 initially, then we expanded it to K-8, for an immersion pathway where the kids can continue to develop the Jemez fluency," Shendo said. 022725_JemezPueblo 6 Lena Toya draws at a table during an exercise working with shapes, and horizontal and parallel lines in a classroom at Hemish Pilot Immersion School last week. A packet detailing learning objectives of the Jemez language immersion programs moves from social and emotional development for young learners to development of familial and traditional ideas to culturally integrated learning of concepts like cardinal direction and time. Jemez Pueblo has a complicated past, and present, when it comes to the educational landscape. Jemez Day School, a federal elementary school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, has an enrollment of 133 students from kindergarten through the sixth grade. Two charter schools on the pueblo, San Diego Riverside Charter (K-8) and Walatowa High Charter School (9-12), each have about 50 students. Lana Garcia, the early childhood program manager for Jemez Pueblo's Head Start program, believes the pueblo's language starts from the womb. She feels strongly pedagogy should be rooted in cultures and traditions. "We always believe that it's every child's right to learn their language and their culture," Garcia said, looking out at the mesas of red rocks that flank the pueblo.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Legislature recap Feb. 7: Sovereignty and cooperation
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe welcomed dignitaries from New Mexico's sovereign tribal nations on Friday for American Indian Day. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Jicarilla Apache Nation President Adrian Notsinneh addressed a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, as did Chairman for the All Pueblo Council of Governors James Mountain. 'Our state of New Mexico is unique because of our different Pueblos, tribes and Native nations, and our individual sovereign rights,' said Rep. Wonda Johnson (D-Rehoboth), who is a member of the Navajo Nation and presided over the joint session. 'Today, we are also facing issues and challenges that demand our communication, coordination and collaboration.' Mountain outlined legislation the APCG wants to see written into law, including Jemez Democrat Sen. Benny Shendo's Senate Bill 13, which would allow tribes to work with the state to establish language- and culture-based schools. He asked lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 163, sponsored by Shendo and Johnson, which would allow public school students who are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe to wear their tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies or public school events. Mountain also endorsed House Bill 137, a controversial proposition to eventually treat hard-to-access deep aquifer water and oil and gas wastewater for proposed end uses such as hydrogen fuel or manufacturing solar or wind components. He implored lawmakers to turn the promise of the Yazzie-Martinez education equity ruling into reality. 'It's not just about Indian education, it's about New Mexico children and students,' Mountain said. 'It's about our school system that needs to be improved, and we have to figure out a way to come together.' Excluding House resolutions to name certain days at the Legislature, the 'feed bill' to fund the session has been the only bill to cross the governor's desk. Next week, we expect to see some legislation hit chamber floors for debate. The House Judiciary Committee on Friday afternoon agreed to delay jumping into one of the more contested issues in the governor's public safety agenda: rewriting the state's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code to give prosecutors more options to involuntarily commit people into a locked psychiatric facility if they are found to be dangerous and unable to stand trial. The committee 'rolled' Los Alamos Democrat Rep. Christine Chandler's House Bill 4 to next week, in order to give the panel more time to hear other public safety bills and vote on them as one package, House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) said. 'I'm grateful and I'm proud, and I can't wait to see this play out in practice, and the restorative impact it will have on all of our communities,' Martínez said of HB 4. 'This is what legislating for the people looks like. We're not legislating to score political points, or legislating out of chaos. This is how it should be done. I can't wait to get this on the floor and over to the other chamber.' Meanwhile, the Senate is working on a complementary package of bills meant to rebuild the state's behavioral health treatment system, Martínez said, 'that will be a part of the system we're creating together.' The Senate Education Committee passed the Advancing the Science of Reading Act, Senate Bill 242, this morning by a unanimous 7-0 vote. The bill, sponsored by President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), proposes changes to the public school code and course requirements for teacher licensure to include more training on the 'science of literature.' It heads to the Senate Finance Committee next. Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) briefly introduced Senate Bill 235, which proposes the creation of a statewide plan for addressing low math scores in the state, including professional learning plans. However, the bill was rolled to the committee's next Wednesday meeting. On Monday afternoon, advocates for criminal legal reform and voting rights will rally to demand lawmakers expand New Mexicans' voting rights. During 'End Mass Incarceration Day,' Millions for Prisoners New Mexico and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico will push for bills to address disparities in the criminal legal system, including House Joint Resolution 10, which would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to eliminate the state's practice of taking away people's right to vote for being convicted of a felony. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Expect both longer days and longer weeks at the Roundhouse, as Saturday committee sessions get into full swing. Here's what's happening in committees this weekend: The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee has six public safety bills on the agenda brought by Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Clovis), including House Bill 104,which addresses the definitions of crimes against peace officers; House Bill 107, which proposes stricter penalties for drug trafficking resulting in a death; and House Bill 136, which would define fentanyl exposure of a minor as child abuse. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to discuss penalties for vehicle thefts; expanding the state law on ticket scalping to state and nonprofit events; and changes to worker's compensation. Among the six bills the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resource Committee will discuss is House Bill 212, the Per- & Poly-Flouroalkyl Protection Act. Two PFAS bills scheduled for Saturday House Energy and Natural Resources committee On the Senate side, only the Senate Conservation Committee is meeting at 9 a.m. with eight bills on the agenda, according to Chair Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos). 'We're going to try and power through them, because we're not moving very fast in committee,' Stefanics said Friday on the Senate floor. Those bills include Senate Bill 48 and Senate Bill 49, both from Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), which establishes a $340 million grant fund for communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provides the funds for state agencies, respectively. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Legislature recap Feb. 7: Sovereignty and cooperation
The Roundhouse in Santa Fe welcomed dignitaries from New Mexico's sovereign tribal nations on Friday for American Indian Day. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Jicarilla Apache Nation President Adrian Notsinneh addressed a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, as did Chairman for the All Pueblo Council of Governors James Mountain. 'Our state of New Mexico is unique because of our different Pueblos, tribes and Native nations, and our individual sovereign rights,' said Rep. Wonda Johnson (D-Rehoboth), who is a member of the Navajo Nation and presided over the joint session. 'Today, we are also facing issues and challenges that demand our communication, coordination and collaboration.' Mountain outlined legislation the APCG wants to see written into law, including Jemez Democrat Sen. Benny Shendo's Senate Bill 13, which would allow tribes to work with the state to establish language- and culture-based schools. He asked lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 163, sponsored by Shendo and Johnson, which would allow public school students who are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe to wear their tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies or public school events. Mountain also endorsed House Bill 137, a controversial proposition to eventually treat hard-to-access deep aquifer water and oil and gas wastewater for proposed end uses such as hydrogen fuel or manufacturing solar or wind components. He implored lawmakers to turn the promise of the Yazzie-Martinez education equity ruling into reality. 'It's not just about Indian education, it's about New Mexico children and students,' Mountain said. 'It's about our school system that needs to be improved, and we have to figure out a way to come together.' Excluding House resolutions to name certain days at the Legislature, the 'feed bill' to fund the session has been the only bill to cross the governor's desk. Next week, we expect to see some legislation hit chamber floors for debate. The House Judiciary Committee on Friday afternoon agreed to delay jumping into one of the more contested issues in the governor's public safety agenda: rewriting the state's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code to give prosecutors more options to involuntarily commit people into a locked psychiatric facility if they are found to be dangerous and unable to stand trial. The committee 'rolled' Los Alamos Democrat Rep. Christine Chandler's House Bill 4 to next week, in order to give the panel more time to hear other public safety bills and vote on them as one package, House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) said. 'I'm grateful and I'm proud, and I can't wait to see this play out in practice, and the restorative impact it will have on all of our communities,' Martínez said of HB 4. 'This is what legislating for the people looks like. We're not legislating to score political points, or legislating out of chaos. This is how it should be done. I can't wait to get this on the floor and over to the other chamber.' Meanwhile, the Senate is working on a complementary package of bills meant to rebuild the state's behavioral health treatment system, Martínez said, 'that will be a part of the system we're creating together.' The Senate Education Committee passed the Advancing the Science of Reading Act, Senate Bill 242, this morning by a unanimous 7-0 vote. The bill, sponsored by President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), proposes changes to the public school code and course requirements for teacher licensure to include more training on the 'science of literature.' It heads to the Senate Finance Committee next. Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) briefly introduced Senate Bill 235, which proposes the creation of a statewide plan for addressing low math scores in the state, including professional learning plans. However, the bill was rolled to the committee's next Wednesday meeting. On Monday afternoon, advocates for criminal legal reform and voting rights will rally to demand lawmakers expand New Mexicans' voting rights. During 'End Mass Incarceration Day,' Millions for Prisoners New Mexico and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico will push for bills to address disparities in the criminal legal system, including House Joint Resolution 10, which would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to eliminate the state's practice of taking away people's right to vote for being convicted of a felony. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Expect both longer days and longer weeks at the Roundhouse, as Saturday committee sessions get into full swing. Here's what's happening in committees this weekend: The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee has six public safety bills on the agenda brought by Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Clovis), including House Bill 104,which addresses the definitions of crimes against peace officers; House Bill 107, which proposes stricter penalties for drug trafficking resulting in a death; and House Bill 136, which would define fentanyl exposure of a minor as child abuse. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to discuss penalties for vehicle thefts; expanding the state law on ticket scalping to state and nonprofit events; and changes to worker's compensation. Among the six bills the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resource Committee will discuss is House Bill 212, the Per- & Poly-Flouroalkyl Protection Act. Two PFAS bills scheduled for Saturday House Energy and Natural Resources committee On the Senate side, only the Senate Conservation Committee is meeting at 9 a.m. with eight bills on the agenda, according to Chair Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos). 'We're going to try and power through them, because we're not moving very fast in committee,' Stefanics said Friday on the Senate floor. Those bills include Senate Bill 48 and Senate Bill 49, both from Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), which establishes a $340 million grant fund for communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provides the funds for state agencies, respectively. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
