Bill adding more Indigenous languages to Alaska's official list becomes law

A bill adding more Indigenous languages to Alaska’s official list became law on Friday without the governor’s signature. 

Its passage means Alaska now officially recognizes 23 Alaska Native languages. The new additions to the list are Cup’ig, Middle Tanana, Lower Tanana and Wetał. Middle and Lower Tanana were previously classified as just one language.

Juneau Rep. Andi Story sponsored the bill. She’s a Democrat running uncontested for reelection this year.

Story said it’s a significant win for all residents in the state. 

“I just think it enriches all of us, Native and non-native, to know about our language and culture and embrace it,” she said. 

The law expands and renames a council that advocates for the survival and revitalization of Indigenous languages in the state. Previously called the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, it’s now called the Council for Alaska Native Language. 

The majority of the state’s Indigenous languages are critically endangered. And, in a report released this spring, the council stated that Alaska Native languages are at a “crucial juncture.”

X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell chairs the council and teaches Alaska Native languages at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. He strongly advocated in favor of the bill during legislative testimony earlier this year.

“Every single Alaska Native language is sacred and irreplaceable,” he said during his testimony. “It contains concepts that cannot be translated, it contains things that cannot be replaced, and that give a sense of fulfillment and wholeness and health to Alaska Natives and to non-natives in Alaska.”

Two seats will be added to the council and it will be moved from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Education and Early Development to better reflect the council’s focus on education.