Native Languages
“Our language is our sovereignty. Our language is who we are as a people.”
Professor Kathleen Kitcheyan
San Carlos Apache College

Reclaiming the Words of Our People Initiative: A Collaborative TCU Native Language Action Planning Project is the first nation-wide initiative to bring together Tribal College and University (TCU) language faculty and staff to plan and create an institutional capacity-building process for Native language revitalization. Under this initiative, AIHEC will develop and implement a strategic plan for American Indian and Alaska Native language revitalization at the nations TCUs.
TCU language programs are unique, as in many cases they are the only academic institutions in the country, and even in the world, where these languages are taught. The AIHEC Native Languages initiative aims to connect and coordinate all TCU language programs, including the TCUs without current language course offerings.
TCU Native Languages: By The Numbers
300 indigenous languages were once spoken in the territory of the United States
175 indigenous languages remain today, and only a handful are still spoken by children
33 TCUs offer Native language courses
29 of the Native languages taught at TCUs represent ten Native language families
16 TCUs have degrees or certificate programs in Native languages
7 TCUs currently teach more than a single Native language
Native Language Families Taught at TCUs
By Tribal Group
Siouan – Lakota, Dakota, Nakoda, Nueta (Mandan), Hidatsa, Apsalooke (Crow), Umoho (Omaha), Ho-Chunk
Algonquian – Cheyenne, Blackfeet, Anishinaabe, Cree, Aaniiih, Menominee
Athabaskan – Dine (Navajo), Apache
Uto-Aztecan – Tohono O’odham
Iroquoian – Oneida
Salishan – Salish, Lummi, Lushootseed, Whulshootseed
Penutian – Nez Perce
Muskogean – Muskogee (Creek)
Eskimo-Aleut – Inupiaq
Caddoan – Sahnish (Arikara)
Language isolate – Kootenai
The TCU Native Languages capacity building process includes:
- Reviewing and Assessing: conduct baseline research and assessment to inventory Native language preservation and revitalization programs and resources at TCUs as well as best practices in Native language revitalization;
- Collaborative Planning: facilitate strategic, collaborative TCU-based planning to leverage, increase and share Native language preservation programmatic infrastructure and resources;
- Sharing and Acting: create and disseminate a comprehensive nation-wide TCU capacity building action plan that delineates areas of consensus, map forward movement in key priority areas, and strengthen and enhance TCU language preservation and revitalization programs.

TCU Languages
Select a TCU name to see the languages taught at the college.

Aaniiih Nakoda College

The Languages Taught at This TCU:
Aaniih (Gros Ventre)
Nakoda (Assiniboine)
Program Type:
A.A. American Indian Studies
Bay Mills Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Anishinabe
Program Type:
A.A. Anishinabe Language Instruction; Anishinabemwin Pane Immersion school: 4- or 6-year diploma.
Blackfeet Community College

The Languages Taught at This TCU:
Piikani (Blackfeet)
Program Type:
A.A. Piikani Studies and Language
Cankdeska Cikana Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Dakota
Program Type:
A.A. Indigenous Studies, Dakota Language Certificate
Chief Dull Knife College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Cheyenne
Program Type:
A.A. Cheyenne Studies; A.A. Native American Studies
College of Menominee Nation

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Oneida
Menominee
College of Muskogee Nation

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Muskogee (Creek)
Program Type:
Certificate in Mvskoke Language Studies; A.A. Native American Studies.
Dine College

Languages Taught at This TCU:
Dine (Navajo)
Program Type:
B.A. Navajo language
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Ojibwe
Program Type:
Anishinabe Language Certificate, A.A. American Indian Studies
Fort Peck Community College

Languages Taught at This TCU:
Dakota
Nakoda (Assiniboine)
Program Type:
A.A. Native American Studies
Ilisagvik College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Inupiaq
Program Type:
Certificate Inupiaq Language; A.A. Inupiaq Studies
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Ojibwe
Program Type:
Ojibwe language certificate, A.A. Native American Studies Language specialty
Leech Lake Tribal College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Ojibwe
Program Type:
A.A. Indigenous Leadership, A.A. Liberal Education
Little Big Horn College

Little Priest Tribal College

Navajo Technical University

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Dine (Navajo)
Program Type:
M.A., B.A. Dine Culture, Language and Leadership, Navajo Court Transcription/Interpretation certificate
Nebraska Indian Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Dakota
Umoho (Omaha)
Program Type:
A.A. Native American Studies
Northwest Indian College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Lummi
Lushootseed
Whulshootseed
Nez Perce
Program Type:
B.A. Native Studies Leadership
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Nueta (Mandan)
Hidatsa
Sahnish (Arikara)
Program Type:
A.A., B.A. Native American Studies
Oglala Lakota College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Lakota
Program Type:
Lakota Language Certificate; A.A. Lakota Studies, B.A. Lakota Studies, B.S. in K-12 Lakota Studies Education
Red Lake Nation College

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Ojibwe
Program Type:
A.A. Native American Studies, concentration in language;
Salish Kootenai College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Salish
Kootenai
Program Type:
A.S. Native Language Teacher Education
San Carlos Apache College

Sinte Gleska University

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Lakota
Program Type:
currently no language degree programs offered
Sisseton Wahpeton College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Dakota
Program Type:
A.A. Dakota Studies, Dakota Language Teaching Certificate
Sitting Bull College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Lakota
Dakota
Program Type:
Lakota/Dakota Language Certificate I, Lakota/Dakota Language Certificate II, A.S. Lakota/Dakota language, B.A. Native American Studies
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Dine (Navajo)
Program Type:
Navajo I and II courses
Stone Child College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Cree
Chippewa
Program Type:
Cree Language Certificate
Tohono O’odham Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
O'odham (Papago-Pima)
Program Type:
A.A. Tohono O'odham Studies;
Turtle Mountain Community College

Languages Taught at this TCU:
Ojibwe
Michif
Program Type:
A.A. Anishinaabe Language; B.A. Ojibwe Language and Culture
White Earth Tribal and Community College
