FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Agency Tribal Nations Issues PN-570: Senate Joint Resolution 379 — Native American Language Rights
100th Congress | September 15, 1988 | Preservation, Protection & Promotion of Indigenous Language Rights | Congressional Acknowledgment of Iroquois Influence on the Constitution
April 9, 2026
Mendocino Indian Reservation • Sovereign Tribal Territory
Public Notice #: PN-570
Resolution: S.J. Res. 379 (100th Congress)
Sponsors: Senators Inouye, Evans, Daschle, DeConcini, McCain, Murkowski, Domenici, Matsunaga
AGENCY TRIBAL NATIONS today issued Public Notice PN-570, formally publishing S.J. Res. 379, the bipartisan Senate Joint Resolution introduced September 15, 1988 by Senators Inouye, Evans, Daschle, DeConcini, McCain, Murkowski, Domenici, and Matsunaga. The resolution establishes as the policy of the United States the preservation, protection, and promotion of the rights of indigenous Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages. It also contains one of the most significant congressional acknowledgments of indigenous contributions to American democracy.
Congressional Findings — The “Whereas” Clauses
The resolution finds:
- Native American cultures and languages are analogous to native and endemic species
- Traditional languages are integral to cultures, heritage, and identity
- Widespread practice of treating languages as non-valid made Native Americans “linguistic outcasts in their own homeland”
- Federal policy resulted in “acts of suppression and extermination” of languages, especially in education
- Suppression was “premised on bases incompatible with a United States policy of self-determination”
- Languages have been “restricted, banned, and, in some cases, exterminated” in their own homelands
Congressional Acknowledgment of Iroquois Influence
“America owes to the Iroquois Confederacy and other Indian Nations for their demonstration of enlightened, democratic principles of government and their example of a free association of independent Indian nations.”
Congress also:
- Reaffirms the government-to-government relationship
- Acknowledges the trust responsibility for preservation, protection, and enhancement
- Acknowledges the duty to exercise utmost good faith in upholding treaties as the Tribes understood them
Resolved — The Policy
- (1) It is the policy of the United States to preserve, protect, and promote the rights of indigenous Americans (Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders) to use, practice, and develop Native American languages, including as media of instruction in State and Federal educational institutions and as the official language in their traditional territories.
- (2) The Federal Government supports granting proficiency in indigenous language the same academic credit as foreign language.
- (3) The Federal Government strongly recommends all educational institutions include indigenous languages in curriculum with equal full academic credit.
Read the Full Resolution
S.J. Res. 379 — Native American Languages Act (1988) — 100th Congress
Related Documents
- S.J. Res. 379 (1988) — Full Page
- PN-530 — Great Law of Peace & U.S. Constitution
- Great Law of Peace
- PL 280 Resource Center
Issued under the authority of the
OFFICE OF THE HEAD CHIEF
Agency Tribal Nations • Mendocino Indian Reservation
S.J. Res. 379 • 100th Congress • H. Con. Res. 331 (1988) • 1856 Mendocino Indian Reservation Treaty
Submit a Public Comment on PN-570
This Public Notice is open for public comment for thirty (30) days from the date of publication.
Comment Period: April 9, 2026 — May 9, 2026
Comment via EmailComments are sent to chief@altearth.org — Office of the Head Chief, Agency Tribal Nations