Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-73

§2903 Declaration of policy

Title 25 › Chapter CHAPTER 31— - NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES › § 2903

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Protect and support Native American languages and the right of Native people to use, teach, and grow them. The policy lists eight main goals. It allows exceptions to teacher certification rules in federal programs so qualified Native-language teachers can be hired, and it asks states and territories to consider doing the same. It backs using Native languages to teach students to help those languages survive, improve learning, and strengthen knowledge of culture and community pride. It asks schools and local programs to work with Native parents, educators, and tribal governments when they start these programs. It recognizes tribes’ right to use Native languages in schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior, and it recognizes that tribes, states, and territories can give official status to their languages for doing their own business. It also supports giving Native language study the same academic credit and college recognition as foreign languages and urges schools to include and credit them the same way.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §2903

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It is the policy of the United States to—

(1)preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages;

(2)allow exceptions to teacher certification requirements for Federal programs, and programs funded in whole or in part by the Federal Government, for instruction in Native American languages when such teacher certification requirements hinder the employment of qualified teachers who teach in Native American languages, and to encourage State and territorial governments to make similar exceptions;

(3)encourage and support the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction in order to encourage and support—

(A)Native American language survival,

(B)educational opportunity,

(C)increased student success and performance,

(D)increased student awareness and knowledge of their culture and history, and

(E)increased student and community pride;

(4)encourage State and local education programs to work with Native American parents, educators, Indian tribes, and other Native American governing bodies in the implementation of programs to put this policy into effect;

(5)recognize the right of Indian tribes and other Native American governing bodies to use the Native American languages as a medium of instruction in all schools funded by the Secretary of the Interior;

(6)fully recognize the inherent right of Indian tribes and other Native American governing bodies, States, territories, and possessions of the United States to take action on, and give official status to, their Native American languages for the purpose of conducting their own business;

(7)support the granting of comparable proficiency achieved through course work in a Native American language the same academic credit as comparable proficiency achieved through course work in a foreign language, with recognition of such Native American language proficiency by institutions of higher education as fulfilling foreign language entrance or degree requirements; and

(8)encourage all institutions of elementary, secondary and higher education, where appropriate, to include Native American languages in the curriculum in the same manner as foreign languages and to grant proficiency in Native American languages the same full academic credit as proficiency in foreign languages.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 2903

Title 25 — Indians

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73