Across the nation, the original languages of American Indians are vanishing at an alarming rate, taking with them a vital piece of the culture of our first people. In 2013, the state legislature established the Montana Indian Language Preservation Pilot Program (MILP), providing $2 million to support language preservation efforts by the state’s tribal governments. However, the impact of this program reaches well beyond just the preservation of language, for both our students and our state.
MBPC is a nonprofit organization focused on providing credible and timely research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues that impact low- and moderate-income Montana families.