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Leadership of AILDI continues to include Native Americans, both as professional educators and as language and cultural specialists, and national Native and non-Native experts on indigenous languages and cultures. Currently, the institute is directed by two professors from the University of Arizona--one a professional linguist who is a member of the Tohono O'Odham tribe and the other a non-Native specialist in Native education programs. One of the founders, a woman from the Hualapai tribe, lectures at the institute every summer and manages a rural district and a Title VII-supported Native language curriculum development project during the school year. Originally designed for Native American educators, today AILDI accepts both Native and non-Native educators--administrators, aides, and teachers--who work with Native American students.
In 1991, AILDI's sponsors launched the Southwest Memory Project, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Southwest Memory was designed to strengthen Arizona elementary and secondary teachers' knowledge of the history of indigenous peoples in the Southwest. The intellectual focus of the program's activities is a comparative study of oral and written historical texts of tribes in three regions of Arizona. During a four-week summer institute intended to parallel AILDI, participants studied oral and written texts from the regions and initiated research and writing projects on a text and topic relevant to their interests and school-community situation. Southwest Memory also included three follow-up sessions: one held for two days during the following winter, another held for a week during the summer of 1993, and a regional follow-up session held in each of three locales for clusters of participants. Southwest Memory was conceived as an offshoot of AILDI to provide AILDI participants with new materials to use in applying the skills and knowledge gained during the annual institute at their home schools, and to support others who are integrating Native cultures and languages into the curriculum.
Although AILDI and Southwest Memory are related, participants characterize the two institutes very differently. While AILDI is structured around traditional class time, Southwest Memory is centered on individual and small-group research. AILDI focuses on general curriculum development, teaching methods, and policy and planning issues related to Native Americans. In contrast, one participant said of Southwest Memory, "We're researchers here. It's different because we learned how to get and tell a story, to share history from the perspective of Native Americans." AILDI seeks to help educators develop materials that are relevant to schools' Native American populations and create an awareness of issues, language, and culture. Southwest Memory's goal is to create an anthology that adds the voice of Native Americans to curriculum in the humanities. According to a school principal who has suggested to her staff that they attend both institutes, AILDI is "more of a foundation. . . . [Participants] have to have this basic information before they can go into Southwest Memory and be successful." The institutes share the long-term goal of promoting cultural awareness, sensitivity, and inclusion of Native American language and culture in the classroom and curriculum.
Participation in AILDI is completely open--no applicant has been turned down. Recruiting is widespread; principals highly recommend and encourage enrollment, as do former participants. Many attend for several years, and the cost is often the only factor that limits participation. Southwest Memory participants, on the other hand, were selected by a screening process that included principals' recommendations and other evidence of ability to conduct research. Of the 75 applicants for Southwest Memory, half were selected for participation. Participation in AILDI was not a prerequisite for Southwest Memory.
Courses. AILDI features four weeks of intensive study in American Indian linguistics, bilingual-bicultural education, and culture-based curriculum development, followed by local projects implemented in participants' home schools and communities. Courses emphasize holistic, interactive teaching strategies that make use of Indian children's prior knowledge; promote self-esteem; and develop literacy, biliteracy, and critical thinking. Classes meet daily for three-hour morning or afternoon sessions, frequently followed by evening lectures, which the community is invited to attend free of charge. In 1993, AILDI offerings included: Linguistics for Native American Communities; Structure of Non-Western Language; Linguistics for Non-Majors; Language Acquisition and Development; Bilingual Curriculum Development; Developing Language Arts Curriculum; Issues in Language, Reading, and Culture; and Language Policy and Planning. A significant number of these courses apply toward bilingual education and ESL endorsements. Participants hear formal presentations by faculty and guest speakers, work individually or in small groups with specialists in their language, and develop bilingual/bicultural teaching materials for use in Indian classrooms and schools.
During the initial four-week session in 1992, Southwest Memory participants studied selected oral and written texts from three regions of the state, and initiated research and writing projects on a text and topic relevant to their interests and school-community environment. During the following winter, participants reconvened for a two-day workshop to evaluate the products and outcomes of the institute, including their research and use of new materials. Southwest Memory culminated in June 1993 with a one-week writing work session where participants compiled curriculum materials. During this week, participants revisited texts and topics covered during the previous year and worked closely with faculty and tribal cultural experts to finalize their research and writing projects. This follow-up was scheduled for the week before the AILDI began to allow those who were interested to attend both. The final products will be reviewed by faculty and co-participants and compiled in a curriculum anthology to be disseminated by the University Press Sun Tracks American Indian literacy series.
Funding. AILDI is tuition-supported, but many participants receive Title VII scholarships or district grants to pay for their expenses. Additionally, the University of Arizona recently funded positions for a half-time secretary and a full-time program coordinator. Regular and visiting faculty are paid on an overload or adjunct basis, as is the case with other university summer programs.
Southwest Memory's NEH grant paid for 35 participant slots, although 36 teachers actually attended because two split one grant award. For each slot, the grant provided a stipend of $1,000 for the initial four-week session plus up to $300 for books and travel, an additional stipend of $100 for the two-day winter workshop, and $250 plus travel expenses for the final week-long writing workshop in June 1993. Participants could apply their stipends toward tuition, earning up to six units of credit at $70 per unit for their work.
Both programs have brought a whole new collection of literature on Native Americans to the school districts. Such materials--ranging from the stories and poetry of indigenous people and their customs to documented testimonials by elders--did not exist before the institutes. One participant has begun a Native American history class in his school as a result of participation in both projects. In the case of the Hualapai, AILDI directly aided the development of the written language and the creation of curriculum materials in that language. Such additions of literature and cultural content enrich the curriculum by making it more fully representative, including the contributions of those who too often have been ignored. As an AILDI co-director said, schools "traditionally cleanse students of their history." AILDI and Southwest Memory promote curricular integrity and inclusiveness. District personnel echo this feeling; the Director of Indian Education at Tucson Unified School District stated, "AILDI offers an opportunity for discussing Native American issues and making them relevant to Native Americans today [by teaching teachers how to] create a relevant curriculum. Educators come out [of the institutes] with new ideas of how to do history and how language is a relevant part of culture."
[Ezequiel A. Balderas Elementary School]