Kristof Osswald
Andrew Simpson
LING 115-38837
December 8, 2018
Discussion F 10 AM Brooke
Advisory Report to the Governor of Arizona
In recent discoveries from the construction work carried out in the south-west of Arizona, oil fields of an unknown size exist within the borders of the Native American Cocopah Tribe. Upon the discovery of these oil reserves, the Cocopah leaders issued a statement to the government of Arizona allowing for further exploration under the condition that the state begins offering bilingual education programs for the Cocopah people and other Native American groups whose tribes are experiencing language loss. The land in which the fields reside are within the Native American reservation, therefore these tribes possess the rights over it. Since the state does not have any rightful ownership over their land, they must first gain permission in order to access the grounds for further exploration. First signs indicate that the oil reserves could be massive and would thus offer a lucrative opportunity for the state to increase its revenues. Ergo, the state must engage with their council in order to continue construction projects and inspection of the oil fields.
Since it is necessary for the state to entertain their offer, it should be assessed if their demands are in the best interest of the state by analyzing the benefits and costs of taking such action. In order to assess whether or not it would be a good idea to educate people in the Cocopah language and culture, one should first understand who they are as well as their historic background within Arizona.
The Cocopah, also known as the River People, have lived along the Colorado River for centuries and are considered to be very generous people who are good natured and non-materialistic. Their tribe is a descendent of the Yuman language speaking people who are spread out along the Colorado river. Although their language has no written form, a majority of their historical records have been passed down orally and some, eventually, interpreted into documents by outsiders. The numerous diaries and journals from travelers and migrants who travelled along the Colorado River towards the west have greatly assisted in compiling a record for the history of the Cocopah.
Travelers such as Hernando de Alarcón, a Spanish explorer who travelled along the Colorado River in 1540, described members of the Cocopah Indian Tribe as tall, well-built people who carried wooden maces and bows and arrows. He explained they were very gracious, offering him gifts and food. When Father Escobar and Juan de Oñate sailed up the river they estimated there to be about six to seven thousand people presently living along the lower Colorado River and delta.
During Westward Expansion in the 1840’s and the discovery of gold in California, many migrants travelled down through the Colorado River. The US Government at the time recognized that there was strategic value with the Colorado River and established Camp Independence in 1850 to protect the territories and entry routes. There, lands consist of three noncontiguous bodies of land spanning over 6,500 acres: the north, west and east reservations. After the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Mexico-United States border was formed splitting the reservation into two, Cocopah and Cucapá (Mexico). In 1964, the Cocopah drafted their first constitution and formed a five-person tribal council. Until 1968, the tribe lived very conservatively and modestly, maintaining their arrow weed-thatched homes but through the 70’s and 80’s they started building out homes with utilities, developing infrastructure, and initiating economic development. Up until the 1900’s, the tribes resisted assimilation and maintained the land’s social, religious and cultural identities. Today however, the culture is changing, and assimilation is creeping in at the cost of their heritage.
Many of the members of the young Cocopah’s today are growing up having learned English as their first and primary language, not fully understanding their heritage language very well. There are the few, who grew up on the reservation and have developed Cocopah as their first language and in turn, don’t understand English very well. If a bilingual system were to be implement, it would need to take into consideration both language groups.
There are many different ways to implement a bilingual education, but three primary systems will be discussed: transitional programs, maintenance programs, and immersion programs. Transitional programs are systems that allow students to first learn school content in their primary language as they learn another language. As time progresses, they slowly transition from their primary language to their second language. The amount of time they spend can vary depending on the children and the state in which they are attaining their language skills. A maintenance program allows a student to take classes that help maintain their heritage language while also learning a second language, similar to language classes offered in schools around America. An immersion program will assist in fully integrating a person into a language as all classes will be taught in said language. The languages taught can vary but differ from the language used in the surrounding community.
Since Native American languages are not commonly used in the United States and have no written form, it would be impractical to learn them as primary languages in school since another language would have to supplement writing. The languages are, however, a major part of identity and culture for many people and can be symbolic of local and heritage traditions. Given this situation, it could prove valuable to implement a maintenance program where students can learn and maintain their heritage language in school, while aditionally maintaining and building strong English speaking and writing skills.
While considering what strategy to implement is of great importance, it is also paramount to note and remember Arizona’s opinion on the matter. In 2000, Proposition 203 “English for Children”, was passed with a sixty-three percent majority. This act repealed the bilingual education laws at the time and required all classes to be taught in English while those who are classified as “English Learners” (a.k.a EL) will be put through separate immersion programs before they are ready to integrate with English normal English speakers.
During its consideration, Proposition 203 was compared to Proposition 227 in the state of California. Similar in nature, California Proposition 227 required English learners to be taught in separate classes until they were ready to integrate into English only classes. The New York Times published an article that favored the passing of Proposition 203 by arguing that Proposition 227 was a huge success in California. By inferring that the change in California led to the a increase in the standardized test scores, it was believed that this article had a major influence on the passing of Proposition 203. However, some bilingual education theorist’s argue that the article was misleading.
This might indicate that Arizona is limited in its ability to provide bilingual education, however, in 1990, Congress passed the Native American Languages Act, that states:
“It is the policy of the United States to preserve, protect, and promote the right and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice and develop Native American languages.”
This act has been argued to be the most explicit statement on language and under this act, one could argue that it is the responsibility of the state to act upon this promise to create and develop programs that will promote the use of Native American languages. Critics might argue that this act has come too late and that this will have little practical impact given the unfortunate, dying nature of Native American languages.
To implement any bilingual education in Arizona would be an act in pursuit of defending Native American languages in America, but may violate propositions enacted by the state itself. If a Cocopah immersion program were to be implemented it would not only violate Proposition 203 but would also put the children of the school at a disadvantage as they would lack the sufficient English skills and proficiency that both jobs and higher education opportunities seek. A transitional bilingual education, or s
transferring Cocopah children to a English only program, could very well provide an alternative for the current generation that lack English language skills but may prove costly once less children are raised in Cocopah only environments. Furthermore, it would be very complex to try and educate children in Cocopah due to the absence of the language obtaining a written form. Legally speaking it would, again, violate Proposition 203, for only teaching certain children in a non-English language. A maintenance program, similar to what is already implemented in other schools around the nation, would allow Cocopah children to enter with classes that cater help with their transition into a English only environment, while still teaching in English. It would give them opportunities to further their skills in Native American language classes, while also building their English skills required to compete with the global economy.
Given the need to comply with the demands given by the Cocopah, it seems logical to further integrate the maintenance programs for Native American languages as it might prove to be beneficial to both the Native American population and the rest of Arizona in building tradition and identity. These specific programs would not only help enrich students in their ability to uphold their native language while additionally learning a language they are first handedly unfamiliar with, but also will provide them with a foundation in which skills are provided to them for further, personal advancement. Moreover, implementing a program would be similar to adding a new second language to the schools already established in which costs are not too heavy, especially compared to the opportunity being pursued in the Cocopah reservation.