WHEREAS, the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council is vested with the authority and responsibility of supporting and promoting issues and or programs that benefit all Tohono O’odham; and

WHEREAS, the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council, thru the sanctioning of the 1987 Tohono O’odham Education Standards, wish to preserve and strengthen the Tohono O’odham Language and Culture by way of sound bilingual bicultural education; and

WHEREAS, the proposed initiative supports a one year English Immersion Program and also requires that academic subjects be taught; presumably such instruction would be in English, which students do not know and is therefore a waste of time, money and effort and dooms the program to failure; and

WHEREAS, the academic subjects are not identified or appropriate curriculum content specified creating insurmountable problems for the classroom teacher, especially if classes are mixed by grade level and or age; moreover, it would be impossible to adequately teach specially mandated programs i.e. Aids Awareness and Gang Awareness; and

WHEREAS, the proposed initiative severely limits parental options: Parents should be able to choose successful options such as two-way bilingual education; eliminating all bilingual education would destroy such proven and tested education methods; and

WHEREAS, only 5% of Arizona’s public school enrolled students are in bilingual education or English as a Second Language programs and thus do not represent the reason for generally low academic achievement results for Arizona; and

WHEREAS, the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council encourages all Tohono O’odham who are of voting age to register and vote against the proposed initiative in year 2000; and

WHEREAS, the Tohono O’odham Legislative in the past by Resolution No. 95-512 (copy attached) opposing HR123 "English as the Official Language," has and continues to believe that the O’odham Language is an essential element of the lives, culture and identity of the Tohono O’odham.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council reaffirms support and commitment to Tohono O’odham Bilingual/Bicultural Education as fundamental to the survival of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

The foregoing Resolution was passed by the Tohono O’odham Council on the 6th day of August 1999 at a meeting at which a quorum was present with a vote of 1,705.6 FOR; 0 AGAINST; 128.1 NOT VOTING; and 331.8 [08] ABSENT, pursuant to the powers vested in the Council by Section 1 (c)(2) or Article VI of the Constitution of the Tohono O’odham Nation, adopted by the Tohono O’odham Nation on January 18, 1986; and approved by the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (Operations) on March 6, 1986, pursuant to Section 16 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984).

TOHONO O’ODHAM LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Dennis Ramon, Legislative Chairman
9 day of August, 1999

ATTEST:
Julianna Saraficio, Acting Legislative Secretary
6 day of August, 1999

Said Resolution was submitted for approval to the office of the Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation on the 9 day of August, 1999 at 3:56 o’clock, P.M., pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 or Article VII of the Constitution and will become effective upon his approval or upon his failure to either approve or disapprove it within 48 hours of submittal.

TOHONO O’ODHAM LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Dennis Ramon, Legislative Chairman

[ X ]  APPROVED on the 10 day of August, 1999 at 9:00 o’clock, A.M.

[   ]  DISAPPROVED

EDWARD D. MANUEL, Chairman
TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION

Returned to the Legislative Secretary on the 10th day of 
August, 1999, at 10:54 o’clock, A.M.
Julianna Saraficio, Acting Legislative Secretary