Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) signed a funding bill that includes $1.25 million for Native language preservation.

The Legacy Act provides $150,000 to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council to create a working group on Dakota and Ojibwe language revitalization and preservation. The bill includes another $550,000 in 2010 and $700,000 in 2011 for Native language grants.

“The first thing is really assessing what’s already out there, as far as what the tribes are doing. … One of the goals is to inventory what the tribes are already doing," Sen. Mary Olson (DFL), who sponsored the provision, told The Bemidji Pioneer. "Another goal is to be making recommendations about what the state Department of Education could and should be doing to facilitate speakers, with a focus on children learning to speak.”

The working group will be made up of representatives of 11 tribes and other state appointees.

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Olson bill preserves Ojibwe, Dakota languages (The Bemidji Pioneer 5/26)