BREAKING: OPI’s Tribal Liaison is a No-Show for Montana Indian Language Preservation Presentation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 17, 2021
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press@montanademocrats.org
BREAKING: OPI’s Tribal Liaison is a No-Show for Montana Indian Language Preservation Presentation
Helena, MT – In a budget hearing Wednesday, Representative Windy Boy announced that the OPI’s Tribal Liaison who oversees the Montana Indian Language Preservation (MILP) program, failed to show up when invited to present at a Native Language workshop on December 10th.
The two-day workshop on Native Language revitalization was organized to showcase different teaching methods to Montana Educators to better teach Native languages, as well as illustrate the needs of Tribal students.
In the hearing, Rep. Windy Boy said, “As a legislator, I made a request of your department, I made a request of the individual who is supposed to be overseeing [the MILP]. And he’s a no-show.” He then asked Arntzen, “He committed to doing his presentation [on MILP] for the group. Did you see him there the two days, on the stage?”
Arntzen had said earlier in the hearing that her Tribal Liaison had been there.
“Clearly Superintendent Arntzen does not consider the preservation of our Native languages a priority: she wasn’t even aware that Tribal Liaison isn’t doing his job for the MILP,” says Sheila Hogan, Executive Director of the MDP. “Her failure of leadership is pervasive, and our Tribal education and language preservation is suffering for it.”
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