Fort Belknap Indian Community

The Aaniiih Nakoda College Library will administer this grant on behalf of the Fort Belknap Indian Community with the goal of supporting Native language learning among young children on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. The library will work together with the Aaniiih Nakoda Cultural Grounding Committee to translate popular children’s stories into the languages of the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre, White Clay) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) Tribes. Staff will seek translation rights from the authors and/or publishers of twenty children’s books. The Cultural Ground Committee members will translate the text, then staff will create transparent labels using special Aaniiih and Nakoda fonts and affix them to the appropriate pages of each book. Reading sessions by Native speakers at the college library and tribal community centers will introduce the bilingual books to the public. In addition, copies of the books will be placed in all of the local public and school libraries as well as Head Start programs so language learning can continue and expand in the future.