Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761

Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761

14th Cortes Federales
Long title	An Act to give effect to Article 27 of the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760 and to Article I of the Plan de Hato Rey; to make the Wakara language a co-official language of the Federation alongside Alexandrian, Martino, and Wechua; to place on a statutory footing the publication of federal law in the Wakara language and to provide for its use with federal bodies and in federal courts; to continue the Guatu Wakarabo and to set its functions; to support education, publishing, and broadcasting in the Wakara language and to protect Wakara cultural heritage; to provide for a program of federal investment in Boriquén agreed with its Government; to amend the Wakara Identity Act, 1724; among other purposes.
Bill Number	FA-1761-02
Introduced by	Council of State (Government of the Federal Accord), sponsored by Sofia Estrada (DSP / Secretary of Education, Sports, and Culture) and Mayani Guacanagari (Wakara People's Party / Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)
Extent	Entire Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Dates
Bill Status	Proposed
Date introduced	19.III.1761 AN
Last updated	19.III.1761 AN
Other legislation
Amendments	None
Related legislation	General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760 Plan de Hato Rey Boriquén Admission Act, 1718 Wakara Identity Act, 1724 Federal Accord coalition agreement, 1759

The Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761 (Alexandrian: Loi sur la protection de la langue et de la culture wakara, 1761; Martino: Ley de Protección de la Lengua y la Cultura Wakara, 1761; Wechua: Wakara Simimanta Kamachiy, 1761; Wakara: Areyto-kato Wakarabo, 1761) is proposed legislation of Nouvelle Alexandrie brought before the 14th Cortes Federales by the Council of State of the Federal Accord. It gives effect to Article 27 of the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760, which provided for the legal protection of the Wakara language and Wakara culture and for investment in Boriquén. It also gives statutory form to Article I of the Plan de Hato Rey of 1717 AN, under which the Federation undertook to recognize and protect the Wakara language.

Brought by Sofia Estrada, the Secretary of Education, Sports, and Culture, with Mayani Guacanagari of the Wakara People's Party, the Act makes Wakara the fourth co-official language of the Federation, beside Alexandrian, Martino, and Wechua. It puts on a statutory footing the Wakara edition of the Federal Gazette, lets a person write to any federal body in Wakara and speak it in any federal court, and requires federal bodies that serve the public in person in Boriquén and the Cherusken district of Santander to serve people there in Wakara. It continues the Guatu Wakarabo, the Wakara Language Council founded in 1725 AN, as the authority on the language's standard form, funds teaching, publishing, and broadcasting in Wakara, and requires a register of Wakara cultural heritage. A program of federal investment in Boriquén, agreed with the Region's Government, covers its storm-exposed electricity grid, health clinics, schools, and the Port of Hato Rey. The constitutional standing of the Wakara people and questions of self-government are left outside the Act.

Background

Wakara is the ancestral language of the Wakara people, native to the lands around Lake Cherusken in southeastern Keltia. Under Gran Verionia and the colonial regimes that followed, its use was discouraged in official life and Martino became the language of government and commerce. The Plan de Hato Rey, signed at Hato Rey on 23.VI.1717 AN, set the terms on which the Wakara joined Nouvelle Alexandrie. Its Article I provides that the Wakara people and their culture, "including their language, traditions, and customs, shall be legally recognized and protected" by the Government, and its Article III establishes Boriquén as an autonomous political entity. The Plan was ratified by the Boriquén Admission Act, 1718.

The Wakara Identity Act, 1724, brought by Mayani Guacanagari and Beatriz Daguao in the 7th Cortes Federales, created the Cultural Association of the Wakara Nation, the Wakara Commission on Culture and the Arts, the Wakara Entrepreneurship Council, and the Wakara Spiritual Institute. It reached the language only through modules on Wakara culture, history, and language in the national curriculum, and gave the language no legal standing. The Guatu Wakarabo, the Wakara Language Council, was established in 1725 AN, within the Wakara Renaissance that had begun after Boriquén's admission, to standardize the language and lead its revival; the Renaissance brought Wakara into the schools of Boriquén and the Areyto Legislativo de Boriquén. Wakara is a recognized regional language of Boriquén, where official documents must be published in Wakara alongside Alexandrian and Martino translations, and it holds protected status in the Cherusken district of Santander. At federal level, Alexandrian and Martino remain dominant. The Federal Gazette, published by the Office of National Records, added Wakara to its official translations after Boriquén's accession in 1719 AN; its issues are published in Wakara, and all its language versions carry equal legal authority. The Act puts that edition on a statutory footing.

The Speech from the Throne that opened the 14th Cortes Federales in 1760 AN promised that the Government "will honor the tongues and the traditions of its several nations, from the Wechua highlands to the shores of Boriquén". The Federal Accord coalition agreement, 1759 committed the Government to investment in the Region and legal protection for the Wakara language and Wakara culture. Article 27 of the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760 made provision for both, but named no sum and created no mechanism.

Key provisions

The Act makes Wakara a co-official language with the same standing as Alexandrian, Martino, and Wechua. It requires the Office of National Records to continue publishing every Act and every issue of the Gazette in Wakara with the same authority as the other versions, lets a person write to any federal body in Wakara and receive a reply in it, and allows a party or witness to use Wakara in any federal court with an interpreter at public expense. Federal bodies that serve the public in person in Boriquén, or in the Cherusken district of Santander once it is designated, are required to serve the public in Wakara and to publish their notices and forms in it, and federal registers record a Wakara name as the person gives it.

The Act continues the Guatu Wakarabo as an independent agency that sets the standard orthography, publishes terminology for law and administration, certifies translators and interpreters, and hears complaints of refused service. Its nine members are nominated by the Government of Boriquén, the Cultural Association of the Wakara Nation, and the Government of Santander.

In education and culture, the Act requires Wakara to be recognized as a language of instruction wherever a Region teaches in it, funds teacher training and teaching materials, and allows grants for Wakara publishing and broadcasting. It requires the Wakara Commission on Culture and the Arts to keep a register of Wakara heritage, prepared with the Wakara Cultural Preservation Society, and federal bodies are to consult the Commission before works affecting a registered site.

For Boriquén, the Act requires the Secretary of Administrative Coordination and Efficiency to prepare, in agreement with the Region's Government, an investment program for the storm-exposed grid, health clinics, schools, and the Port of Hato Rey, funded from sums the Cortes appropriates and reported as its own line in the Treasury's quarterly statement by Region. It provides for a review judged by results in the manner of the Parap Principles.

Provisions in outline

Structure of the Act

Part	Articles	Subject
I	1–4	General provisions: citation, definitions, purpose, and scope
II	5–10	Status and use of the language: co-official status, federal law and publications, the Lake Cherusken area, federal bodies, federal courts, and personal names
III	11–13	The Guatu Wakarabo: continuation, functions, and membership
IV	14–16	Education, media, and heritage: instruction and teaching materials, publishing and broadcasting, and consultation on the heritage register
V	17–18	Investment in Boriquén: the investment program, the Region's agreement, and reporting
VI	19–23	Final provisions: amendment of the Act of 1724 AN, constitutional basis, regulations, review, and commencement

Legislative progress

Legislative progress

Stage	Date	Chamber	Action	Votes (Y-N-A)	Details
1	19.III.1761 AN	Federal Assembly	Introduction	-	Introduced for the Council of State by Sofia Estrada (DSP, Secretary of Education, Sports, and Culture) and Mayani Guacanagari (WPP, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)
2	pending	Federal Assembly	Committee report	-
3	pending	Federal Assembly	Final division	-
4	pending	Chamber of Peers	Concurrence	-
5	pending	-	Royal Assent	-	Sinchi Roca II

Bill as submitted to the Hopper of the Federal Assembly, 1761 AN

Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761

THE READING OF
A
BILL
TO
give effect to Article 27 of the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760 and to Article I of the Plan de Hato Rey; to make the Wakara language a co-official language of the Federation alongside Alexandrian, Martino, and Wechua; to place on a statutory footing the publication of federal law in the Wakara language and to provide for its use with federal bodies and in federal courts; to continue the Guatu Wakarabo and to set its functions; to support education, publishing, and broadcasting in the Wakara language and to protect Wakara cultural heritage; to provide for a program of federal investment in Boriquén agreed with its Government; to amend the Wakara Identity Act, 1724; among other purposes.

Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761

Presented for the Council of State by Sofia Estrada (DSP), Secretary of Education, Sports, and Culture, and Mayani Guacanagari (Wakara People's Party), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Ordered, by the Cortes Federales of Nouvelle Alexandrie,
to be Printed, 1761 AN.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Cortes Federales, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Citation.

1. This Act may be cited as the "Wakara Language and Culture Protection Act, 1761".

Article 2: Definitions.

1. In this Act:
   1. "the 1724 Act" means the Wakara Identity Act, 1724;
   2. "the Appropriation Act" means the General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760;
   3. "the Commission" means the Wakara Commission on Culture and the Arts established under the 1724 Act;
   4. "the Council" means the Guatu Wakarabo, the Wakara Language Council continued by Article 11;
   5. "the Department" means the Department of Education, Sports, and Culture;
   6. "federal body" means a department, agency, office, or court of the Federation, and a person exercising a function on behalf of one;
   7. "the Gazette" means the Federal Gazette;
   8. "the Lake Cherusken area" means the Cherusken district of the Region of Santander, or the part of it the Secretary designates under Article 7;
   9. "the Plan" means the Plan de Hato Rey, ratified by the Boriquén Admission Act, 1718;
   10. "the program" means the Boriquén investment program prepared under Article 17;
   11. "the Secretary" means the Secretary of Education, Sports, and Culture;
   12. "Wakara" means the Wakara language (Wakarabo).

Article 3: Purpose.

1. The purposes of this Act are:
   1. to give effect to the legal protection of the Wakara language and Wakara culture provided for by Article 27 of the Appropriation Act and to the recognition promised by Article I of the Plan;
   2. to make Wakara a co-official language of the Federation, and to allow a person to use it with federal bodies and in federal courts;
   3. to support the teaching, publishing, and broadcasting of Wakara and the protection of Wakara cultural heritage; and
   4. to give effect to the investment in Boriquén provided for by Article 27 of the Appropriation Act.

Article 4: Scope.

1. This Act binds federal bodies, and does not alter the law of the Region of Boriquén on the use of Wakara, which continues in force.
2. This Act does not determine the constitutional status of the Wakara people or any question of self-government.

PART II
STATUS AND USE OF THE LANGUAGE

Article 5: Co-official status.

1. Wakara is a co-official language of the Federation, with the same standing as Alexandrian, Martino, and Wechua.
2. The Federation recognizes and protects Wakara in accordance with Article I of the Plan.

Article 6: Federal law and publications.

1. The Office of National Records must continue to publish each Act of the Cortes Federales and each issue of the Gazette in Wakara, with the same authority as the other versions.
2. A federal body that publishes a notice, form, or public document for use in Boriquén or the Lake Cherusken area must publish it in Wakara at the same time as in the other languages in which it is published.

Article 7: The Lake Cherusken area.

1. The Secretary must designate the Cherusken district of the Region of Santander, or a part of it, as the Lake Cherusken area within one hundred and eighty days beginning with the day this Act comes into force, after consulting the Government of the Region of Santander and the Council.
2. Article 6(2) and Article 8(2) and (3) apply in the Lake Cherusken area beginning with the day the designation is published in the Gazette.

Article 8: Use of Wakara with federal bodies.

1. A person may communicate in writing in Wakara with any federal body, and is entitled to a written reply in Wakara.
2. A person may deal in Wakara, in person, with a federal body that serves the public in person in Boriquén or the Lake Cherusken area, and is entitled to be answered in Wakara.
3. Each federal body that serves the public in person in Boriquén or the Lake Cherusken area must have available staff able to deal with the public in Wakara.
4. A person who is refused a service in Wakara under this Article may complain to the Council, and the Council must report each complaint, and its outcome, to the Secretary and in its report under Article 12(2).

Article 9: Use of Wakara in federal courts.

1. In proceedings before a federal court, a party or a witness may use Wakara.
2. The court must provide interpretation for a party or witness who uses Wakara, at public expense.

Article 10: Personal names.

1. A federal register, including the registers of births, deaths, and marriages and the register of passports, must record a personal name in Wakara as the person gives it, including its diacritics.

PART III
THE GUATU WAKARABO

Article 11: Continuation of the Council.

1. The Guatu Wakarabo, the Wakara Language Council established in 1725 AN, continues as a body corporate.
2. The Council is an independent agency under the Council of State, and is independent of the Government in the exercise of its functions under Article 12.

Article 12: Functions of the Council.

1. The Council has the following functions:
   1. to set the standard orthography of Wakara;
   2. to prepare and publish dictionaries and the terminology of Wakara for law, administration, science, and education;
   3. to advise federal bodies on the use of Wakara;
   4. to certify translators and interpreters of Wakara for federal bodies and courts; and
   5. to receive complaints under Article 8.
2. The Council must lay a report on the state and use of Wakara, and on the exercise of its functions, before the Cortes Federales once in each year.

Article 13: Membership.

1. The Council consists of nine members appointed by the Secretary for a term of five years.
2. The Secretary must appoint four members on the nomination of the Government of the Region of Boriquén, four on the nomination of the Cultural Association of the Wakara Nation established under the 1724 Act, and one on the nomination of the Government of the Region of Santander.
3. The Secretary may remove a member before the end of the term only for incapacity or misconduct, after notice and an opportunity to be heard.

PART IV
EDUCATION, MEDIA, AND HERITAGE

Article 14: Education.

1. The Department must recognize Wakara as a language of instruction in the educational standards of the Federation, where a Region provides instruction in it.
2. The Department must fund, from sums appropriated for the purpose, the training of teachers of and in Wakara and the preparation of teaching materials in Wakara, and must prepare those materials with the Council, in accordance with Article I(2)(c) and (d) of the Plan.

Article 15: Publishing and broadcasting.

1. The Department may make grants for publishing, broadcasting, and digital media in Wakara.
2. The Department must report the grants made under this Article in each year to the Cortes Federales.

Article 16: Cultural heritage.

1. A federal body must consult the Commission before it carries out, consents to, or funds works that would affect a site entered in the register of Wakara cultural heritage kept under paragraph 4A of Section III of the 1724 Act.

PART V
INVESTMENT IN BORIQUÉN

Article 17: Boriquén investment program.

1. The Secretary of Administrative Coordination and Efficiency must prepare, with the Secretaries of Energy and Environment, of Social Security and National Solidarity, of Education, Sports, and Culture, and of Civil Works and Transportation, and in agreement with the Government of the Region of Boriquén, a program of federal investment in Boriquén, and must lay it before the Cortes Federales within one year beginning with the day this Act comes into force.
2. The program must address:
   1. the resilience of the electricity grid in Boriquén against storms;
   2. health clinics and primary care;
   3. schools, and education in Wakara; and
   4. the Port of Hato Rey and transport in the Region.
3. The program must state the projects it includes, their estimated cost, and the order in which they are to be carried out.
4. In preparing the program, the Secretary of Administrative Coordination and Efficiency must consult the Wakara Entrepreneurship Council established under the 1724 Act.
5. The program is funded from the sums the Cortes Federales appropriates to it.

Article 18: Agreement and reporting.

1. A federal body must not carry out a project under the program without the agreement of the Government of the Region of Boriquén.
2. The Secretary of the Treasury must show the spending on the program as a separate line in the quarterly statement of federal disbursements by Region under Article 34 of the Appropriation Act.
3. The Secretary of Administrative Coordination and Efficiency must lay a report on the progress of the program before the Cortes Federales once in each year.

PART VI
FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 19: Amendment of the 1724 Act.

1. The 1724 Act is amended as follows.
2. In Section III, after paragraph 4 insert:
   1. "4A. The Wakara Commission on Culture and the Arts shall keep a register of the sites, objects, and practices of Wakara cultural heritage, prepared with the Wakara Cultural Preservation Society, and shall report on their condition in its annual report."

Article 20: Constitutional basis.

1. This Act is enacted under Articles 1(5) (cultural diversity), 2(5) (educational standards; public health; inter-regional infrastructure), 2(7) (coordination with a Region), 9 (non-discrimination by language), and 47 (agencies) of the Proclamation of Punta Santiago.
2. The powers of the Region of Boriquén under Article 2(6) of the Proclamation are not diminished by this Act.

Article 21: Regulations.

1. The Secretary may make regulations for carrying this Act into effect.
2. Regulations under this Act must be published in the Gazette.

Article 22: Review.

1. The Secretary must review the operation of this Act, and lay a report of the review before the Cortes Federales, within three years beginning with the day this Act comes into force and afterward at intervals of not more than five years.
2. A review must assess:
   1. the use of Wakara with federal bodies;
   2. the number of speakers of Wakara recorded by the Statistics Bureau; and
   3. the progress of the program.
3. A review must judge this Act by its results, in the manner of the Parap Principles.

Article 23: Commencement and severability.

1. This Act comes into force on receiving the Royal Assent.
2. This Act must be published in the Gazette within seven days beginning with the day of the Royal Assent.
3. If a provision of this Act is held to be invalid, the remaining provisions continue in force.

Amendments

No amendments to date.

Voting record

Under the Federal Accord coalition agreement, 1759 the three governing parties, together holding 448 of the 801 seats, are committed to the Government's legislative program, of which this bill is a part.

Federal Assembly, 1761 AN (to be completed)

Political party	Yes	No	Abstain/absent	Total	% Support
Alliance for a Just Nouvelle Alexandrie (AJNA)				260
Civic Governance Alliance (CGA)				95
Federal Consensus Party (FCP)				93
Federal Humanist Party (FHP)				293
Independent				50
Republican Party of Oportia (RPO)				10
Total				801

See also

• Wakara language
• Wakara people
• Boriquén
• Plan de Hato Rey
• Wakara Identity Act, 1724
• General Appropriations and Taxation Act, 1760
• 14th Cortes Federales