OCTOBER 30, 1990

NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT (NALA) OF 1990 ENACTED

On this date, President George H. W. Bush signed Public Law 101-477, an Act “to assist Native Americans in assuring the survival and continuing vitality of their languages.” The NALA of 1990 declared that Native Americans were entitled to use their own languages for education and conducting their own business. In 1991, Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye introduced legislation aimed at amending the 1990 Act to facilitate funding for tribes and Native American organizations to establish language training programs, compile oral records, establish community programs, and construct facilities. When no grants in the fiscal year of 1991 included language components, Inouye presented a substitute bill encouraging tribal governments to establish partnerships with schools, colleges, and universities. After lobbying by Native Hawaiians, language institutes, and advocates, the bill moved through Congress to passage and was enacted by Bush as the NALA of 1992 (Public Law 102-524).

Sources:
Public Law 102-524, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-106/pdf/STATUTE-106-Pg3434.pdf
Public Law 101-477, https://www2.nau.edu/jar/SIL/NALAct.pdf
Graphic:  Official Seal of the U. S.  Public Domain.