ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS
OBJECTIVE EVALUATION REPORT
REPORT PERIOD ENDING: 10/31/03 FISCAL YEARS: 2001 and 2002
1.) GRANTEE NAME:
Kaw Nation
Drawer 50
Kaw City, OK 74641
Guy Munroe, Chairperson/CEO
2.) GRANT NUMBER: 90NL0197/01-02
3.) BUDGET PERIOD ENDING: 06/30/01 to 10/31/03
4.) GRANT AWARD: $257,787
FEDERAL SHARE:
FY01 $122,124
FY02 $84,106
NON-FEDERAL SHARE:
FY01 $30,531
FY02 $21,026
TOTAL:
FY01 $152,655
FY02 $105,132
5.) REPORT PREPARED BY:
TYPED NAME: Justin McBride
TITLE: Language Coordinator
DATE: January 26, 2004
6.) REPORT APPROVED BY AUTHORIZED GRANTEE OFFICIAL:
TYPED NAME: Guy Munroe
TITLE: Chairperson/CEO
(ITEMS 7 — 16 FOR EACH OBJECTIVE ARE LISTED SEPARATELY ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES)
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: Year 1—Objective 1 (Henceforth just 1—1)
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II –Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $ 45,797 (30% of $152,655)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $69,932 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, Kaw grammar will be presented in a form from which simple lessons can be derived. The project coordinator, language teacher, Wendy Branwell, and Cultural Committee members will meet with Dr. Rankin to identify grammatical patterns and discuss how they may best be taught. Educational materials will be produced in accordance with their findings.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
All parties will have a better understanding of the language and will prioritize what needs to be taught versus what will only confuse the beginning learner.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
At least five lessons will be developed 3rd and 4th grade students.
The resulting grammar will be used to develop new types of language materials.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. The Kaw Nation will advertise for and hire a language coordinator.
With an educational background in linguistics and several years of experience in tribal enterprises and programs, Justin McBride was hired to be the Language Coordinator in September of 2001. He started to work on October 1, two months later than initially planned.
2. The Project Coordinator will meet with Dr. Rankin to discuss adaptation of materials.
Dr. Bob Rankin met with the Language Coordinator and the Language Teacher for a number of sessions—each just short of a week in length—in FY01 to discuss Kanza grammar, text analysis, potential learning hazards, material adaptation, and other language-related issues. During the times between visits, we maintained frequent (weekly to monthly) e-mail contact for answering questions, providing information, and discussing Kanza language topics.
3. The Project Coordinator will discuss with artist Arthur Short Bull the illustration of a Clan Book and Pictorial Dictionary.
Collaboration between the Language Department and the team consisting of artist Arthur Short Bull and graphic designer Kate Wootton proved to be very problematic in FY01. Though initially contacted in October 2001 to discuss Clan Book and Pictorial Dictionary progress details, the team's subsequent contact with us for the next few months was sparse at best, despite repeated attempts to contact them via telephone and scheduled meetings. In January of 2002, the team sent a draft of their Clan Book to the Language Department for proofing. Several issues were noted, including slight wording modifications, one or two pieces of dubious artwork, a number orthography and/or spelling ambiguities, and a general need for greater historical, cultural, and linguistic detail. The Language Department researched these issues, and returned a tactful letter containing a list of concerns and possible solutions. The team immediately voiced its voluntary withdrawal from the project, citing irreconcilable editorial conflicts and a desire to personally publish their work as-is for sale in Kansas. In retrospect, the problem seemed to be an old one stemming from earlier conflicts between the tribe and the team on this and other projects. We have spoken to Short Bull since the event, and he has assured us that he would like to maintain a strong relationship with the Kaw Nation.
The Language Department subsequently began writing a new Clan Book based on the earlier editorial research. While an initial proof of the 40-page text was completed by April 2002, editing lasted well into June, and required small last-minute changes as late as August, when the book was at the printer. Schatz Publishing in Ponca City, OK printed 2,000+ copies of The Kanza Clan Book, most of which were freely distributed via mail in September 2002 to the adult tribal members. The remaining copies are kept at the Language Office for educational purposes.
The Language Department staff began work in October 2001 on the Pictorial Dictionary and combined phrasebook, originally intended to be included in the Simplified Grammar document (see below). After the withdrawal of the design team, we modified the concept of the dictionary with the revised intent of including simple illustrations on each page instead of pictorial entries. This allowed us to focus more on the text itself, a factor that dramatically increased the number of entries—it ultimately contains more than 800 separate entries. Work on the text continued throughout FY01, and an initial proof of the text was completed in the winter of 2002. Work on illustrations went through several phases, and a final design was agreed upon in the summer of 2003. The completed A Practical Kanza Vocabulary was published in downloadable Adobe Acrobat form on the tribal website in September 2003. It stands at 20 pages in length. The Language Department acquired a binding machine for the office for the purpose of making hard copies available to anybody desiring one.
Copies of both documents are included with this report.
4. The Project Coordinator will work with all language personnel on simplified grammar and will publish materials.
The Simplified Grammar document underwent several revisions after work began on it in October 2001. In its earliest phases, it was intended as a nearly 120-page document, including some 90-100 pages of grammatical topics and 15-20 pages of vocabulary entries. The text from this original document was revised continually until November 2002. At that point, the text stood at nearly 130 pages, with detailed outlines existing for another three chapters devoted to grammar. The document was just not simple enough. This original text was abandoned in favor of a simpler design incorporating the same topics presented in a significantly less advanced light. However, a single copy of the completed portions was printed and bound in-house, where it remains for anyone who wishes to check it out of the Language library. While it has been very useful for us, it is clearly not a final Simplified Grammar.
While work continued on the original document, another was needed for the spring 2002 aide instruction. This second version, much less detailed than the first, was initially drafted in winter FY01 as a series of slideshow-style computer presentations for mass viewing. Upon completion in the spring, the value of a single document composed of these lessons became clear. The individual slides were printed as pages, and bound as a large grammar handbook while the slideshows themselves—essentially an electronic version of the text—were made available online.
Because it was discovered in November of 2002 that the original Simplified Grammar was nearing hopeless lengths, we opted to redesign it from a radically simpler point of view. The new Kanza Language for Families & Communities document was originally intended as an adult- and adolescent-oriented course manual for the FY02 teleconferencing lessons and also as a supplement to lessons available online (see below). When the availability of the teleconferencing course failed to produce students, it became obvious that the course manual was the best draft of a Simplified Grammar document. The complete work, standing at 116 pages, was published in downloadable Adobe Acrobat form on the tribal website in September 2003, with hard copies available at the Language Office. In the end, regardless of the form taken by the document at various stages in its development, it has served as the primary basis for the many Kanza language materials we have created since the beginning of the program.
A copy of the final document is included in this report.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exceptions to the planned approach are as follows:
§ Late hiring of the Project Coordinator—This late start tended to offset the completion dates of other objectives.
§ De facto withdrawal of Wendy Branwell from the Language Department affiliation—Prior to the hiring of the Project Coordinator, Branwell relocated to Colorado and fell out of contact with the Language Department. We were never able to reestablish regular contact with Branwell despite numerous attempts to do so. Nevertheless, she did send the Language Office a completed copy of her thesis on the Kanza language, which included lessons and grammatical paradigms. Unfortunately, we had achieved the same results on our own some time before. And although she also attached a letter explaining her desire to continue working on the project, and we were still unable to contact her afterward for resumption of duty.
§ Withdrawal of the Short Bull/Wootton team from the Clan Book and Pictorial Dictionary project—While initially disastrous, this setback was overcome during our carryover period with the publication of a new Clan Book and the redesign and subsequent publication of an expanded illustrated dictionary instead of a Pictorial Dictionary.
§ Multiple overlapping drafts of the Simplified Grammar—In the end, we developed a much more thorough grasp on the highly complicated grammar of Kanza through our work on three separate Simplified Grammar documents. This increased understanding is evident in our final document.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
The Language Department created and published three separate documents of great cultural value to the tribe, Kanza Language for Families & Communities (a simplified grammar of Kanza), A Practical Kanza Vocabulary (an illustrated English-Kanza dictionary), and The Kanza Clan Book (a book detailing the tribal clan system). These have sparked a great deal of interest and positive feedback within the community. In addition, we created a multitude of lessons and materials in a variety of formats based on these, each of which is targeted to one or more segments of the population, from children of all ages to adults, and from beginners to advanced learners. In short, we have solidly established a direction and a body of materials for the program for years to come.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: 1—2
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $ 45,797 (30% of $152,655)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $10,533 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, 4 teachers will be certified by the Cultural Committee as qualified to teach Kaw to preschoolers and Kindergarteners. Members of the Cultural Committee are best equipped to determine who in their communities is most suited to the position of teacher's aide. In consultation with Dr. Rankin, they will interview the community members who responded to the March 2001 survey indicating a desire to learn and teach. Those selected will be placed in a special accelerated learning program supervised via e-mail, phone, and scheduled visits.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
As aides are trained to work with the youngest students, Kelly Test and Wendy Branwell will have time to develop curriculum for older students and adults.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
The language program will be expanded to include students in 3rd and 4th grade classes.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. Project Coordinator will contact tribal members whose 2001 survey response showed interest in teaching Kaw.
Unfortunately, this 2001 survey was anonymous in nature, making it impossible to collect names in this fashion. Instead, the Cultural Committee submitted to the Language Department the names of three people who had expressed interest in learning and teaching Kaw. Of the three, only two were still interested in and/or available for participation in the aide program at that time. A number of other names were referred to us from other sources, but only one of these leads was productive. Thus, we had three prospective aides by the time we began the aide training session in February of 2002, all of whom were approved initially by Cultural Committee members.
2. Project Coordinator will select aides upon the advice of the Cultural Committee and arrange for their accelerated training by Kelly Test, language teacher.
After the submission of names, the Project Coordinator arranged an accelerated learning program consisting of a series of multimedia lessons—in the form of slideshow-style presentations based on work done for the Simplified Grammar (see above)—combined with discussion of specific Pre-K lesson plans to be taught in area school systems. While there was an overall timeframe, for the most part the training was self-guided and self-paced, affording the learner some degree of control over the class times and even the course setting. The Language Department began training the three prospective aides in February 2002. It soon became apparent that the program was too open-ended. Due mostly to a lack of personal computing power at the homes of the trainees and conflicting work schedules, the aides almost never accessed outside of scheduled meeting times the multimedia lessons, despite their availability online and at the Multi-Media Center at the tribal headquarters. Furthermore, because of work schedule conflicts, the trainees were unable to attend training at the same time. Instead, aides came into the office individually, giving rise to much repetition and variation in the training. Revising as we went, focus shifted to more structured language practice to increase confidence levels. This practice included translation, dialog, and conversation, as well as lesson plan review and topic discussion. Revisions gave rise to a protracted schedule, increasing the program length by almost four months. Nevertheless, the aides were certified as ready to teach by the Cultural Committee in July 2002.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exceptions to the planned approach are as follows:
§ No names were gathered from the March 2001 survey—The names were instead referred to us from Cultural Committee members and from other sources, including Language Department staff. Regardless, the Cultural Committee prior to the start of training approved all prospective aides.
§ Instead of four, only three prospective aides began training—A fourth aide could not be found despite repeated calls for volunteers and many referrals.
§ Training lasted nearly six months instead of two—This was primarily due to scheduling conflicts but also to many revisions of the program itself, from one of a regularly scheduled classroom-style course to that of several overlapping instances of one-on-one instruction conducted whenever possible.
§ The training ended during the summer months instead of during the school year—The aides were never able to take in the goings-on of a typical elementary school classroom during their training.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
By the end of the accelerated learning program, the Cultural Committee certified three teacher’s aides. The aide training gave the Language Department staff increased confidence in working with willing adults. The program was expanded first to 1st and 2nd grades in the spring semester of 2002, and then to the 3rd and 4th grades by the end of the year, allowing aides the opportunity to take over the Preschool-Kindergarten work in the future. We expanded the curriculum to correspond to the significantly increased student load.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: 1—3
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $ 30,531 (20% of $152,655)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $5,251 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, two new schools will be participating in the Kaw language program. The project coordinator will visit schools in rural Kay County to explain the program and its importance to the enrichment of the school curriculum.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
As more students join the program, they will carry home materials or assignments which will encourage other family members to become learners.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
A tribal newsletter poll of tribal members wanting language lessons will show at least a 10% increase.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. Project Coordinator will contact local schools to describe program and suggest participation.
At the start of the school year in FY01, the Language Department was only teaching in the Kaw City School's Preschool-Kindergarten class. To expand the program, we not only increased the grade level in Kaw City to include up to 4th grade, but we also contacted throughout the spring semester several new schools and learning centers in Kay County (and one in Noble County). These included schools in Kildare, Morrison, Newkirk, Peckham, Ponca City, and Tonkawa. Reactions to our contacts varied from open hostility to feigned interest, and positive support came only from Newkirk and Ponca City.
In Newkirk, we established two lasting summer learning sites, at both the Kanza Child Care and the Tribal Youth Program. While the former consists of elementary school children, the Tribal Youth Program takes children from preschool to adolescence. In Ponca City, we established a lasting relationship with Ponca City West Middle School's so-called Wildcat University after school program. The Language Department initially shared time at Wildcat University with the Kaw Nation's Environmental Department, who were also engaged in an educational program. However, by the end of the first school year, the Environmental Department had lost interest in participation, and the program became a more or less language-only affair. Because the middle school age group was at first beyond that for which we had devised lesson plans, we created an exciting new language curriculum presented from a traditional environmental standpoint. The new lessons demonstrated how the early cultural practices of the tribe were in harmony with their immediate environment. Thus, vocabulary and grammar involving traditional surroundings were our primary focus. We received enthusiastic support for this new model from the school.
2. Project Coordinator will evaluate aides for readiness to teach beginning Kaw and assist them in lesson planning.
Much of the accelerated learning program for aide training involved lesson planning, so a great deal of this activity was accomplished as part of another objective. The principal component of this activity was the evaluation of the aides for readiness to teach beginning Kanza, which occurred at the end of the training program in July 2002. Based on their performance in a series of complex sentence generation and translations exercises, the Coordinator determined that all possessed a level of competency in the Kanza language sufficient to begin teaching in a Pre-K setting. I made this recommendation to the Cultural Committee, who then certified them as having completed the training program.
Nevertheless, despite the best intentions of everyone, all three aides became unavailable for work after the certification process. One found a new job and relocated, one enrolled in a nursing program during school time hours, and one shortly thereafter became much busier with her own job and soon lost confidence in her Kanza language abilities. Thus, the Language Department was never able to take advantage of the trained aides.
3. Project Coordinator will request teaching aides evaluation from participating schools after 1 month of lessons.
Due to the fact that the aides became unavailable for work before they could begin teaching, we were unable to request one-month evaluations of their progress.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exceptions to the planned approach are as follows:
§ Schools less receptive than we hoped—We were unable to secure a great degree of support from the school systems we contacted. We were able to establish new learning centers in Newkirk, but they were cooperative ventures with tribal programs for young people, and not actual schools. In Ponca City, the best we could secure was involvement in an after school program operated through the school system. Nevertheless we were able to expand the program in Kaw City to other grades. In addition, we did succeed in expanding the program into both Newkirk and Ponca City, two areas without Kanza language instruction prior to 2002.
§ Loss of trained aides—The unavailability issues that plagued our aides were unavoidable but unforeseeable. Despite their loss, we were able to maintain our program and accomplish other objectives.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
After contacting various schools in the area, we successfully expanded the program to two new communities. This increased the number of students in our program from around 15 in the fall semester of 2001 to around 50 in summer 2002. We implemented a new curriculum that focused great energy on sending items home with the students to inspire family involvement. This had a ripple effect in the tribe. An October-November 2002 strategic planning poll demonstrated that those capable of speaking some Kanza sentences constituted 10% of the more than 500 respondents. This is a dramatic increase in the overall level of language competence in a period of less than two years. The largest cohort of linguistic competence in a March 2001 cultural needs survey belonged to those knowing a few Kanza words, only 42 respondents. In contrast, a mere 12 respondents in 2001 indicated knowing a few words and phrases in Kanza.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: 1—4
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $ 30,531 (20% of $152,655)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $9,611 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, there will be 10 additional Kaws with the ability to speak words and phrases in Kaw. Each teacher or aide will be asked to evaluate the progress made by his/her students and to converse in simple sentences with the students to determine progress.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
Students who have attended language classes regularly will have mastered one to four simple conversational situations in Kaw.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
At least 50% of the students entering the program will be anxious to continue and ready for new lessons.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. Project Coordinator will develop video and audio taped lessons to make the language more accessible to learners.
Three videotaped lessons were shot during the in-office training of aides. The topics covered are Kanza Sounds and Alphabet, Kanza Parts of Speech, and An Introduction to the Kanza Verb. Each is approximately two hours long. An audiotape lesson was created to supplement the existing audiotape available and to convey all the vocabulary and grammatical structures needed to teach the Pre-K lesson plans in our curriculum. Additionally, the audiotape details morphology and syntax of some of the various entries, and includes audio samples from our computerized lessons. Although the tape was made to supplement to the accelerated learning program, it functions just as well by itself.
In addition to video and audio taped lessons, the Language Department devised nine electronic lessons in FY01 to make the language more accessible to learners. Early on we came to the conclusion that computerized lessons are much more practical than video and audio taped lessons, based primarily on the high costs of creating and distributing physical media of good quality. Electronic lessons can be designed or recorded cheaply, edited easily and as often as needed, copied quickly without error, and disseminated at little to no cost to either the designer or the end user. These lessons are arguably more effective than the physical ones in focus and scope, compactness of form, immediacy of presentation, and learner interactivity. These electronic lessons received thunderous applause when previewed at a Kaw Nation General Council meeting in the summer of 2002. They have proven so effective that both the Umonhon Nation High School's Umonhon (Omaha) Language Center in Macy, Nebraska, and the Osage Nation Head Start in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, have consulted with the Language Department on the creation and implementation of these sorts of electronic language lessons.
2. Project Coordinator will establish more learning sites and rotate teachers among Ponca City, Newkirk, and Kaw City.
Due to the fact that the aides became unavailable for work before they could begin teaching, we were unable to rotate them between learning sites. Furthermore, we were unable to secure any more learning sites.
3. Dr. Rankin will visit learning sites to answer language questions in person.
Dr. Bob Rankin visited several times in both FY01 and FY02 to discuss Kanza grammar and vocabulary, answer questions, provide information, and discuss various Kanza language topics.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exceptions to the planned approach are as follows:
§ No expansion into new schools—Because the area school systems were less receptive to our program than we had hoped, we were unable to secure opportunities to expand into other Kay County schools by the end of the program year.
§ Loss of trained aides—Because the aides were unavailable for work after training, we were unable to accomplish certain aide-dependent objectives.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
In FY01 the Language Department offered a wide range of learning opportunities to students, from video and audio taped lessons to highly effective electronic slideshow-style and e-mail lessons. Having more than tripled the number of students in the program (see above) in just the first twelve months while focusing on cooperation with other Kaw Nation programs, we were able to dramatically increase the number of Kaws with the ability to speak Kanza words and phrases. The vast majority of these new learners were children. At an end-of-year event for Kaw City students, four grades of children enthusiastically demonstrated their new knowledge of Kanza words and phrases involving numbers, colors, foods, and greetings, and several other themes. One non-Native Kindergarten student even initiated a brief Kanza-only conversation with the Project Coordinator about the contents of his pocket—a situation that calls for specialized lexical and grammatical knowledge.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: Year 2—Objective 1 (Henceforth just 2—1)
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $42,053 (40% of $105,132)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $45,081 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, all Kaw tribal members living in Kay County will be able to access Kaw language lessons either from their home or within 10 miles of their home. The project coordinator will have investigated alternatives to 'live' instruction and offered a menu of audio or video taped lessons, enhanced by periodic visits from Dr. Rankin and 'live' lessons from Kelly Test.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
Lessons can be borrowed and viewed or heard at the students' convenience, allowing the adult learner to meet scheduling needs and the young student to review his/her work.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
A 20% or greater increase in the number of adult students will result.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. The Project Coordinator will contract for a web site to publicize the program and provide home access to language lessons.
Since early in FY01, the Language Department has maintained a homepage at www.kawnation.com/langhome.html for the purposes of introducing the Kanza language and the Language Department to viewers, housing a large set of multimedia lessons and materials for home use, announcing new developments and projects, and promoting useful links. In addition, the Language Department procured additional Web space from both Yahoo!® GeoCities and ezboard to house a large "Talking Dictionary" for the pronunciations of more than 800 Kanza words and to host a fully self-guided eight-week Beginning Kanza course for adults, with regularly scheduled lessons and supplementary materials (such as visual aids and practice exercises) designed to walk the learner through key grammatical topics and translation techniques, as well as introduce important conversation strategies.
2. The Project Coordinator will obtain cost estimates and specs on teleconferencing equipment to connect educational centers in all tribal facilities.
The Language Department obtained cost estimates and specifications on teleconferencing from three different telecommunications companies, Bigfoot, C3 and Glyphics Communications. As far as equipment, the most sophisticated device needed was a hands-free telephone (or multiple phones on a single line), assumed to be available at just about any site, regardless of location. Therefore, the estimates covered only the total line cost per minute for each of the sites connected during the teleconference. Estimates were in the range of $10 and $20 per hour per site. Other small charges applied, such as fees associated with backup conference recording, duplication and mailing, educational material printing and mailing, etc. Using a median of these estimates, we calculated the average cost of an eight-week course complete with all necessary materials conducted simultaneously at three separate sites (a host and two satellite sites) at around $500. These costs were to be recovered by charging the participants for the service. Ten students could be charged $50 apiece for all materials and classroom instruction to fully recover the costs, or five students for $100, twenty for $25, etc
3. The Kaw Nation will provide teleconferencing and e-mail instruction from its main offices.
After obtaining teleconferencing estimates, the Language Department set about drafting a manual of the course material. Entitled Kanza Language for Families & Communities, this course manual sprang from our work on the Simplified Grammar document and eventually replaced the original draft to assume that capacity. A draft of the course manual was available on a chapter-by-chapter basis during the completion process, and the first draft containing all eight chapters was available in May 2003. In the meantime, the availability of teleconference lessons and the manual draft as well as a call for volunteers was published both in the spring edition of the tribal newsletter and on the language homepage. Despite this advertising, by the end of October 2003 only one tribal member had contacted the Language Department expressing interest in the teleconferencing course. Rather than charging that sole interested party upwards of $350 for the course, we instead directed her to other language materials and resources (which she found to her liking). In a personal communication with the Language Coordinator, another tribal member expressed passing interest in teleconferencing lessons, but was uninterested in discussing the details. In short, while the teleconferencing was clearly an option, there were no interested parties.
A great deal of Kanza language instruction was conducted via e-mail in both FY01 and FY02. Much of this involved our electronic lessons from FY01. A great deal involved the answering of Kanza language questions posed by the community at large. Not all of these questions came from tribal members. Surprisingly, many came from non-Native people who had stumbled onto the language homepage, including a student in Germany who expressed interest in Kanza language and culture. There were many requests for word lists, individual language materials, and the meanings of ancestral names.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exception to the planned approach is as follows:
§ No interest in teleconferencing—We simply lacked real interest for this venture within the community.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
The Language Department has excelled in electronic media for Kanza language instruction, from maintaining a very detailed website housing a wide variety of lessons and materials to providing rapid interaction directly with the public through its online discussion board or via e-mail. By posting our resources on the World Wide Web, we have enabled all Kay County residents to access our resources at any time from home or during business hours at the tribal headquarters or at any of one of the handful of area libraries, located within about ten miles of nearly every point in the county. Learners can receive live instruction in the schools, at tribal headquarters, or in their homes via telephone and/or computer. Consequently, by spring of 2003, the number of Kanza language students increased to nearly 125, including about ten new adult students.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: 2—2
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $42,053 (40% of $105,132)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $24,961 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, a Kaw language resource library of at least 20 lessons and mixed media resources will be available either on-line or in the Language Office at tribal headquarters.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
Students will be able to borrow materials as needed. They will be able to progress at their own rate of speed rather than at a classroom pace.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
Language Library circulation figures will show a 25% greater increase.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. All persons involved with the language program will meet to discuss and select resource materials.
The Language Department met several times in FY02 with both Dr. Bob Rankin and the Cultural Committee (or quorums thereof) to discuss language-related issues, including materials and material development. Meetings of this nature occurred in July, August, and December 2002, as well as May, August, and October 2003.
2. Available materials will be listed on the web site, as well as cataloged in the Language Office.
The language homepage lists most resources in one of two ways, as Works and Lessons. Works are classified by medium as .pdf-format resources, .html-format resources, audiotape and CD resources, e-mail resources, Internet resources, and other resources. Each of these resource groups is composed of one or more individual learning materials. Lessons consist of nine .pdf or eight electronic slideshow-style multimedia lessons categorized as either beginning or advanced lessons. In addition to these resources, the homepage also contains a complete eight-week online beginning Kanza course, a great deal of information about the Kanza language and the Language Department, and a number of useful links.
The Language Office catalog is a virtual index of our materials, very few of which exist in hardcopy, but are stored as easily reproducible computer files, cataloged logically and regularly backed-up on CD. These back-ups exist as the primary hard-copy catalog.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
There were no exceptions to the planned approach.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
By the end of the grant period, the Language Department operated one of the most extensive Native American language websites devised and maintained exclusively by a tribal entity. Our Kanza language homepage at www.kawnation.com/langhome.html contains mixed media resources, easily downloadable lessons, a complete beginning Kanza course, a number of accessible books and documents, general information about the Kanza language, and many other features. In short, anyone wishing to learn to speak Kanza can acquire a beginner's level competency exclusively with the materials on the tribal website. This puts acquisition of Kanza within the grasp of anyone with Internet access or within driving distance to a modern public library or other public Internet access point. People have taken advantage of these materials from the very start, and we frequently receive questions and contact from the website.
7.) GRANTEE OBJECTIVE NUMBER: 2—3
8.) ANA GOAL: Language II–Implementation
9.) ESTIMATED COST: $21,026 (20% of $105,132)
10.) ACTUAL COST: $24,961 (Near-estimate pending final financial report)
11.) STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE:
By the end of the twelfth month, there will be at least twenty additional Kaw speakers, as defined by the Cultural Committee. This Committee, including elders and those interested in tribal history, is best equipped to define what constitutes being a Kaw speaker.
12.) RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
The members of the Cultural Committee and the new language learners will have the opportunity to interact and share their pride in their heritage.
13.) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED:
At least 10 new learners will be able and anxious to carry on simple conversations in Kaw with their elders.
14.) EXPLANATION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Activities:
1. Project Coordinator will work with Language Teacher to develop advanced lessons to target older children and adults.
In July 2002, the Language Department began an eight-week evening course for adults in Kaw City called "Kanza Language for Families & Communities." The course was advertised in and around the tribal offices in Kaw City and Newkirk. While cut short due to lack of attendance, the time spent on the course was a success in that we developed several new lessons for adults and/or older children. These new lessons were based on a minimal reliance on formal grammar and a stronger conversational component than we had previously attempted. The new lessons were then modified slightly and posted on our Internet discussion board, which we christened the Kanza Electronic Classroom. After November 2002, we adopted this new adult-oriented approach and began revising our Simplified Grammar document. The resulting document was initially intended as a course manual for teleconferencing classes (see above), which could be supplemented with an online portion available at the Electronic Classroom. Later, this Kanza Language for Families & Communities manual proved effective enough to stand alone as the final version of our Simplified Grammar document.
The document contains eight chapters divided into a number of sections. The sections contain explanations of grammatical features, vocabulary, review questions, guides to corresponding Internet supplements, and useful exercises with answers. The sections can be treated as individual lessons in a course lasting 16-18 weeks, or the chapters themselves could serve as the primary level of focus in a shorter eight-week course. By the end of the course, learners will have acquired several everyday conversational phrases, a vocabulary of 15 content words, paradigms for verb conjugation, and a host of small word-like units used to express various elements of grammar. Learners will be capable of translating simple English sentences (such as "I am shooting at it," "the brown squirrels evidently have that red shoe," and "those hungry buffalo bulls were looking at this," etc.) into Kanza and vice versa.
2. New teaching aides will be recruited and trained to accommodate the increased student load.
In February 2003, two young people responded to a recruitment call for new teacher's aides printed in the winter edition of the tribal newsletter and posted on the tribal website as part of a large Language Department advertising push to describe the learning resources and teaching opportunities available for the Kanza language. Since our first aide training session a year before, only four people had shown any interest in the program—two that fell out of contact shortly after expressing concern and then these two, who approached us as persistent and resolute about being involved. We were very happy to learn that they lived a short distance from the tribal headquarters (one in tribal housing) and were willing to meet with us together during working hours. They began training in March. Early on, however, the two began showing signs of doubt and disinterest in the time and effort it takes to learn a language and practice it dutifully. In four weeks of making little to no progress, one stopped coming altogether. The other followed a week later. After several failed attempts to contact them at home and through one of their parents, we discontinued the training schedule. Since then, no others have expressed any interest in the aide program.
15.) EXPLANATION OF EXCEPTION TO THE PLANNED APPROACH:
The exceptions to the planned approach are as follows:
§ Failure to train new aides—We were unable to maintain the two new recruits or recruit more. However, we had the chance to use our newly drafted Kanza Language for Families & Communities chapters as a guide for the four completed weeks of training, a practice that allowed us to focus on elements that worked and perfect elements that fell flat in a classroom setting.
§ Reorganization of the Cultural Committee—In 2003, numerous boards and committees of the Kaw Nation began extensive reorganization by order of the tribal government, including the Kaw Cultural Committee. At this point, the current and future membership, and indeed the very existence, of the Committee is unknown. Consequently, the term "Kaw speaker" remains undefined by the group.
16.) ACTUAL RESULTS OR BENEFITS:
By the end of the program, the Language Department has taught the Kanza language to upwards of 150 students, with prospects of reaching many more times that figure in the future through continued work in area schools and via the program's web presence. With both child-oriented and adult-oriented curriculum, we have managed to dramatically increase the number of individuals with the capacity to speak some Kaw in a period of just two years, as evidenced in a recent survey (see above). Now more than ever there is great interest in the Kanza language within the community, particularly among the student body of Kaw City School and among visitors to our language homepage. Interest in Kanza has increased awareness of cultural matters in general, as we have seen through our day-to-day interactions with tribal members and the public at large.