Through a partnership with the NSB Iñupiat History, Language, and Culture (IHLC) division, the North Slope Borough School District is proud to celebrate the successful completion of the first pilot of the Iñupiaq Mentor-Apprentice Program Intensive, Iñupialgusisa!, which was held June 2-13, 2025. This groundbreaking initiative brought together 14 dedicated participants, including Iñupiaq Language Teachers and Iñupiaq Education Department staff. Group Mentor-Apprentice Programming is a team-based approach where one or a few advanced speakers teach a group of language learners through structured immersion lessons and accelerated second language acquisition techniques to build fluency through consistent, real-world use.
During this two-week intensive, the group was led by Annauk Olin, Mentor-Apprentice Program Manager for the Iñupiaq Education Department. Annauk is the daughter of Maggie Pollock, a previous immersion teacher of the NSBSD. She has spent nearly a decade working on Iñupiaq language and MAP initiatives under the mentorship of Dr. Edna Ahgeak MacLean.
The intensive focused on MAP strategies through immersion storytelling using two stories: Uisauruaq Taġiumi – Adrift on the Ice (author: Patrick Okpeaha) and Amaqtuġniaġniq – Pink Salmon Fishing (authors: Hannah Loon, Annauk Olin, and Paałuk Reid Magdanz). Each story was broken down into three sets (each set including 4-5 phrases), and with a picture to accompany each phrase of the story. Each set was taught in a 2-hour immersive period where each phrase was repeated dozens of times, before learners were expected to reproduce the phrases. Apprentices were able to use the story to learn to describe the illustrations while further breaking down the sentences through grammatical analysis of the phrases. Utilizing these strategies and tools, they were then able to create their own narrative through individual final projects and tell the story to the class while applying instructional methods to teach their peers their story. One elder who participated said, “Naalaġninnaraaqtatka iḷisaurrimmata Iñupiatun. (I enjoyed hearing other teachers when they taught their lessons in Iñupiaq).”
Director of Iñupiaq Education, Qaġġuna Tenna Pili states, “We recognize from an NSBSD standpoint the importance of, and priority needed to support adult second-language learners, especially those who are teaching the language in our classrooms. Although we are five minutes past midnight regarding our Iñupiaq language status within our region and communities, we place emphasis on the need to support our adult learners to continue to advance in their teachings with our children. We have the benefit in the North Slope to have an abundance of language materials and resources, and the fluent speakers needed to implement this program.
It is not the sole responsibility of our language teachers or our schools to ensure Iñupiaq Language fluency progresses with our children, but in all actuality, it is a collective responsibility of us as parents, community members, elders, and linguists/fluent speakers. We must work together to ensure we as a community perpetuate the shared responsibility in supporting Iñupiaq language learning through direct instruction like MAP, immersion, and prioritizing language learning at home.”
Looking ahead, we plan to continue the MAP initiatives into the fall with all Iñupiaq Language Teachers and begin work with parents of students in the immersion program. The primary focus remains to support language fluency progression for highly motivated learners, each committing a minimum of 7.5 hours per week to immersive language learning.
Quyanaqpak to all who contributed to this vital step in Iñupiaq language perpetuation. We look forward to continuing to enhance our partnerships amongst all organizations to support Iñupiaq Language work and working with all our motivated second-language learners. Iñupiuraaq sumipayaaq! Iñupialgusisa!
