Lawmakers hear conflicting views on Alaska Native Language Center

By Amber McCain

Alaska Native language advocates clashed with University of Alaska leaders again over the future of the Alaska Native Language Center, warning lawmakers that the state’s Indigenous languages are on the brink of extinction.

Lawmakers convened to hear presentations on the future of ANLC, with concerns about the center’s funding and staffing levels.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks maintains that ANLC is fulfilling its mission, while faculty and advocates warn it is underfunded, understaffed, and falling short of its state-mandated duties.

Interim UAF Chancellor Mike Sfraga told legislators Wednesday during a Senate Education Committee meeting that ANLC is not closing and is not being restructured. “ANLC is not closing. Quite the opposite. We would like this program and its mission to grow,” Sfraga said. He reaffirmed university support for research, instruction, and publications and said the center’s budget has increased to more than $1 million in recent years through internal reallocations.

Sfraga said the university has tried twice to hire a director for ANLC but “had, unfortunately, two failed searches for a director, so we’ve moved to a different model.” He called the operational context “incredibly difficult” and said leadership must make “hard budgetary decisions.”

Interim Provost Charlene Stern, speaking from personal experience as an Indigenous language learner and faculty member, said the center’s transition into the College of Indigenous Studies was intended “to better align Indigenous programming and to leverage the resources of the college.”

She acknowledged differing opinions on how the center should operate but defended administrators’ efforts, saying, “Strengthening Alaska’s more than 20 Native languages is a responsibility that ANLC shares with tribes, school districts, tribal colleges, and the state government.”

Stern added that school districts and immersion programs have expressed interest in courses to support language teachers, and the university is working to offer those training opportunities.

The administration also described a new partnership with the University Press of Colorado for ANLC book distribution and royalties, designed to make language materials more widely available and financially sustainable.

But faculty and community representatives offered a starkly different picture.

ANLC Department chair Sam Alexander called the situation a “crisis of survival,” urging the university to stop relying on temporary or unstable funding. He challenged the state’s commitment, saying that despite hundreds of millions of dollars given to the University of Alaska, the current support for the language center doesn’t reflect that dedication.

Alexander also noted this was the first time he had met with UAF administrators in person about the ANLC, flying to Juneau at his own expense to attend the hearing.

He said the center has shifted away from permanent positions to temporary or adjunct roles, leaving it unable to train new language teachers except in one program. “Funding is like, ‘Oh, we increased it 60%.’ But look at the staffing: vacant, vacant, student adjunct, vacant term assistant, non-retained position in danger, vacant position threatened. That doesn’t look like commitment to me,” he said. He also criticized what he described as growth in upper administration at the expense of mission-critical positions.

Anna Berge, a professor of linguistics at ANLC, said recent director searches were not genuinely failed but were derailed by administrative decisions. “It appears that we do not have any kind of authority to make decisions for ourselves,” she said. Berge also warned that without a dedicated editor, the center would be unable to produce new language publications.

X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, a professor of Alaska Native languages at the University of Alaska Southeast, noted the urgency of the crisis. “I believe 20 of the 23 have fewer than 100 speakers remaining right now per language,” he said. He suggested statewide coordination and creation of language-focused education structures.

Elder Florence Newman of Arctic Village shared a personal testimony about learning and teaching her native Gwich’in language. “My mom and dad, they only speak Gwich’in,” she said. “In Arctic Village area for Yukon River, we lost a lot of elders … after we’re all gone, then who will teach?”

Senators responded by emphasizing the need to examine the university’s role and explore legislative changes. “The notion of a robust Alaska Native Languages Center with a statewide mandate is a good one. I don’t know if we’ve ever had that,” said Sen. Jesse Kiehl.

The next committee meeting is on April 8.