The Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming has launched a new school to keep the Arapaho language alive.

Only about 200 people on the Wind River Reservation speak the language fluently. None are under the age of 55.

"This is a race against the clock, and we're in the 59th minute of the last hour," former National Indian Education Association president Ryan Wilson, who was hired by the tribe to start the school, told The New York Times.

About 22 children in from pre-kindergarten through first grade attend classes at Hinono’ Eitiino’ Oowu, the Arapaho Language Lodge, where instruction is entirely in the Arapaho language. "I want my son to talk nothing but Arapaho to me and my grandparents," Kayla Howling Buffalo, mother of 4-year-old student RyLee, said.

The tribe plans to add a new grade every year to cover pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The school's budget is $340,000, paid by the tribe and private donors.

Get the Story:
Its Native Tongue Facing Extinction, Arapaho Tribe Teaches the Young (The New York Times 10/17)
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