Report On Oil Reserves In Cocopah Territory And Bilingual Education

Gwen Bradforth
7 May 2023
Advisory Report on Oil Reserves in Cocopah Territory and Bilingual Education
Introduction
The discovery of oil reserves in S.W. Arizona on the land owned by the Cocopah Native American tribe has raised a significant issue between the tribe and the state of Arizona. The leaders of the Cocopah people have demanded that the state of Arizona offer bilingual education programs to the tribe and other Native American groups in exchange for allowing the state to explore the oil reserves. This report aims to provide Governor Hobbs with background information on the Cocopah tribe and bilingual education programs and suggest the direction the Governor should take in negotiating with the Cocopah to acquire the oil reserves.
Language

In the early 19th century, the US government established re-education schools to strip native children of their language and culture and assimilate them into American culture. Of the 115 indigenous languages spoken in the U.S. today, two are healthy, 34 are in danger, and 79 will go extinct within a generation without serious intervention. Of the hundreds of indigenous languages in North America, only a few will likely survive past the 21st century. The loss of indigenous languages represents a larger loss of culture, heritage, and identity among all Native Americans.
General Information on the Cocopah Tribe
The Cocopah tribe lives in the Lower Colorado River Valley, spreading from southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and northwestern Mexico. The modern-day Cocopah reservation is on the southwest point of Arizona, bordering Mexico. According to the Cocopah Indian Tribe website, there are around 1,000 enrolled members. The Cocopah language belongs to the Yuman language family and is an endangered language spoken only by adults. The majority of the Cocopah people speak English. The Cocopah Indian Tribe runs a K-12 school in Somerton, Arizona, where the education department is.
Bilingual

The structure of bilingual education programs differs depending on the school, but generally, they are either transitional or maintenance. Maintenance programs provide instruction in both languages to preserve a heritage language by giving proficiency in both languages to the students. Transitional programs eventually transition from both languages to English-only instruction. If one were to enter an English+Spanish program, one would have classes in both English and Spanish, with roughly equal distribution of both. If it were a transition program, the proportion of English would increase until it was English only. A study at Johns Hopkins found that bilingual education teaches bilingualism without compromising English proficiency. Comparable studies have shown that students gain proficiency in the second language and outperform their nonimmersion peers on standardized reading in English.
The Current Status of Bilingual Education Programs in Arizona
In 2000, Arizona passed Proposition 203, which required English-only instruction in all public schools. This was a result of the widespread “English-only” sentiment at the time, which was firmly against any bilingual education. However, the Arizona State Board of Education recently approved a rule that gives more flexibility and allows schools to offer dual-language immersion programs. Additionally, lawmakers have been pushing to repeal Proposition