It’s time to celebrate X̱’unei Lance Twitchell, AKPIRG Language Champion of the month! In this series, we are uplifting the abundant work being done around the state to maintain, preserve, and revitalize Alaska Native Languages. 

“X̱ʼunei áyá ax̱ saayí Lingít x̱ʼéináx̱, Deikeenaa x̱ʼéináx̱ Ḵʼeijáaḵw, ḵa Dleit Ḵáa X̱ʼéináx̱ Lance Twitchell… Lukaax̱.ádi áwé uháan, Yéil Hít yeedáx̱, ḵa Lḵoot yoo duwasáakw Haa Léelkʼu Hás Aaní. Aatlein ḵu.oo áwé ax̱ ée has awlitóow haa yoo x̱ʼatángi ḵa aadé ḵaa ée dultóow yé. My name in Lingít is X̱ʼunei, and in Haida Ḵʼeijáaḵw, and in English Lance Twitchell… We are of the Lukaax̱.ádi clan, from inside the Raven House, and our Ancestral Lands are called Lḵoot (Chilkoot). Many people have taught me the ways to teach people.”

X̱ʼunei is a Professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. He co-leads a program with Éedaa Heather Burge to develop Indigenous language teachers, and they are currently building a Master of Arts in Teaching Indigenous Languages program at UAS.  His advocacy was instrumental to ensuring that Alaska Native languages became co-official languages of the state of Alaska. X̱ʼunei is currently the chair of the Alaska Native Language Preservation Advisory Council, a contributing member of the The National Coalition of Native American Language Schools and Programs, and a member of a working group that is developing the first National Native American Language Center.

When discussing the language reclamation that is happening in Indigenous communities, X̱ʼunei said, “It is coming back, all of it, and the inertia of Indigenous excellence is unstoppable and will result in populations that are transformed to strength.” 

We thank X̱ʼunei, not only for his scholarship and preservation of the Lingít language, but for his invaluable advocacy for Indigenous language revitalization across the state and nation. It is an honor to have X̱ʼunei as an AKPIRG Language Panelist. Gunlchéesh!

To learn more about X̱ʼunei, visit akpirg.org/language-access.

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