Language as an environmental issue
Language as an environmental issue
By Jerry W. Kram
Too often when people think about preserving the environment, they create a picture in their mind of a pristine landscape of green plants, wild birds and animals and sparking clean water. But there is a problem with that picture; there are no people in it.
When students of the Environmental Science Program at the Nu’eta, Hidatsa and Sahnish College decided that the department’s annual symposium would be in Parshall, they chose a topic that directly addressed the human environment of the MHA Nation – the preservation of native languages of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Scott Baker and Kristen Mason were the students who organized the symposium and invited Izetta Hopkins of the Three Affiliated Tribes Boys and Girls Club to present the work the club is doing to create a new generation of fluent speakers.
