“It takes one generation to lose a language and four to rebuild it.” That’s the guiding reality for Baby Raven Reads, said Molly Briggs, manager for the early literacy program for families with Alaska Native children up to age 5, offered through Sealaska Heritage Institute.

The program, which began in Juneau in 2017, has expanded to nine other Southeast communities, including Wrangell.

Baby Raven Reads partners with Tlingit and Haida Head Start and local tribal organizations to support the development of literacy, social and emotional skills for Native Alaska children. It features regular in-person events in which stories, crafts and activities center on language and cultural practices.

Once a family has enrolled in Baby Raven Reads, they receive a free kit each month with books and literacy activities to do at home. In Wrangell, they can also attend events led by a team that includes Head Start aide Nicole Webster, elders and cultural specialists Virgina Oliver and Sandy Churchill, and a parent helper.

Webster is the Wrangell liaison for the Baby Raven Reads program. “I’m Tlingit but I wasn’t raised in the culture,” she said. “Through this program, I am learning my own cultural heritage, and my children are also learning counting and songs.”

She often receives videos from parents of kids singing songs they’ve learned in their Native language. She sees these as examples of closing the generational language gap.

SHI produces materials for the learning kits and the in-person sessions. The books are written and illustrated by Indigenous authors and artists, in a combination of English, Lingit, Xaad Kil and Sm’algyax. To date, more than 30 books have been published through the program; an anticipated grant will fund three new books.

“We want to provide exposure to books and to characters that look like the readers, doing culturally response activities,” Briggs said.

The books have been distributed across schools and libraries as resources for non-Native families about Alaska Native cultures and languages, and to share the importance of storytelling traditions and oral literature.

The program created by Sealaska Heritage Institute features books focused on the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures. Books include “10 Sitka Herring” (a counting book), “How Devil’s Club Came to Be,” “Picking Berries” and several more.

One challenge in reading books together is that in too many cases, parents have not been exposed to their own language or are not confident, fluent speakers, Briggs said. The Baby Raven Reads events in Wrangell are meant to involve parents, so they can participate in learning and sharing the stories. There are also video and audio clips available online as additional support.

Upcoming sessions, held in the former Head Start building across from Evergreen Elementary School, include “Let’s Go! A Harvest Story” on Saturday, Dec. 20, and “Raven Loses His Nose” on Saturday, Jan. 10.

For more information about events, or to enroll in the Baby Raven Reads program, contact Webster at 907-305-0454.