Funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this project is a collaboration between NILI, the Yakama Nation Language Program, the Yakama Reservation Wellness Coalition, and two high schools on the Yakama Nation; its goal is to increase self-esteem, cultural pride and drug and alcohol free lifestyles for at-risk teenagers. Together with assistance from the Native American Center for Excellence (NACE) Service to Science evaluators, we developed the Ichishkiin Culture and Language as a Foundation of Wellness Survey.

As well as being the first step to evaluate if language and culture function as protective factors, the project lays the groundwork to begin evaluating  (1) the effects boarding schools have on language and culture loss and (2) Native people’s attitudes on learning to speak their families and communities language(s). The survey is designed as a model that other tribes can adapt for their use and has the potential to benefit many communities and youth. If you are interested in our survey, preliminary results and process, please contact us.