KENAI, Alaska (AP) – Members of a Kenai tribe are trying to preserve their cultural heritage by keeping their language alive.

The Kenaitze Indian Tribe, in partnership with the Administration for Native Americans, Alaska Native Heritage Center and Cook Inlet Tribal Council, recently hosted the Dena’ina Language Institute to preserve, revitalize and perpetuate the Dena’ina language.

“It’s strictly elders talking and students listening,” said Sasha Lindgren, the Kenaitze tribe’s cultural director.

The institute took an immersion-style approach to teaching language developed by linguist Roy Mitchell of Anchorage, who is also taking part in the institute.

Dena’ina is an Athabascan language with four dialects in the Cook Inlet area. It’s believed that about 75 people can speak the language, out of a population of about 900 Dena’ina people.

Tribal archivist Dana Verrengia said elders came from nearby communities to share their language and knowledge with 15 students from around the state. They used the immersion approach instead of traditional reading and writing methods because it’s a natural way to learn, Verrengia said.

“When you were a child, you didn’t understand writing. When you learned your first language you heard it, and then tried it. That’s how you learned.”

Verrengia said the approach also is more in keeping with the history of Dena’ina as an oral language.

The Dena’ina Language Institute is part of ongoing efforts funded by the Administration for Native Americans. In the past four years, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s cultural and education staff and Kenai Peninsula College anthropology professor Dr. Alan Boraas have developed new curriculum materials for youth and adults, organized a tribal archive and developed a Web site for learning Dena’ina at home.

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