Kaplan honored with Denali Award
November 5, 2013
Director of Alaska Native Language Center and UAF linguist Lawrence Kaplan received
a Denali Award from the Alask aFederation of Natives for his work revitalizing Native
Alaskan languages. This is the highest honor given to a non-Native person by the AFN.
The Denali Award recognizes a non-Native person who demonstrates a strong commitment
to the Alaska Native community and rural Alaska.
“Dr. Kaplan’s near four decades of work in documenting the Inupiaq language and teaching
Native language instructors has supported the revitalization of Native languages and
preserved the ancient knowledge accumulated over thousands of years that is embedded
in Native languages that might otherwise have been lost to all of humanity but for
his work, “says Rosita Kaaháni Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute.
Kaplan is known for his work with the Inupiaq Eskimo language, which is spoken in
northern Alaska. He is presently compiling dictionaries of Inupiaq, including grammatical
explanations for the language. He is also involved with training Inupiaq language
and culture instructors. Kaplan works with programs in Native Language Education that
offer degrees intended to prepare Native language teachers from Alaska and Canada’s
Yukon Territory.