2012 – International Year of Indigenous Communication
Posted: 28 November 2011 Filed under: Language revitalization, Promotion, Summit Leave a comment »On November 17, 2010, the Continental Summit of Indigenous Communication Abya Yala declared 2012 to be the International Year of Indigenous Communication (original Spanish).
Toward this, Kathryn Lehman has created a project for a student at the University of Auckland to foster communication between the Maori, Mapuche and Wayuu peoples.
Movies of daily life invigorating Objiwe
Posted: 21 November 2011 Filed under: Ojibwe (oji), United States, Videos Leave a comment »“New home movies resurrect endangered Native American language” by Science Nation. Mary Hermes takes movies of daily scenes to help speakers expand their vocabulary.
Fifth Festival of Indigenous African Language Films
Posted: 11 November 2011 Filed under: Africa, Events, Films Leave a comment »According to “Summit Resolve To Showcase Indigenous Language Films,” FIAF 2011 has just ended, and topics included using film as a medium to stress African values and indigenous languages.
12-year immersion program – Cherokee
Posted: 3 October 2011 Filed under: Cherokee (chr), Education, Immersion, Language programs, United States Leave a comment »With the start of the new school year at the Sequoyah Schools in Oklahoma, US, comes an exciting development. Adding sixth grade immersion last month, Sequoyah Schools now has a twelve-year immersion program in Cherokee (chr), the first time since 1956.
Classes are taught completely in Cherokee without the use of English, fostering a strong sense of identity and natural ability with the language.
With the addition of Cherokee to Apple products, students are also using technology to learn and use the language, such as the iPad, a product recently provided to seventh and eighth graders.
This blog post is based on “Cherokee Nation Adds Sixth Grade and iPads to Bolster Native American Education” and “Cherokee Nation adds Sixth-Grade to Immersion School.”
“California Indian Languages” published
Posted: 3 October 2011 Filed under: Books and Journals, California, Media Leave a comment »According to “HSU Author Publishes Indian Language Encyclopedia,” on the Humboldt State Now blog, Victor Golla’s encyclopedia of California languages is now available for purchase.
According to the book’s description on Amazon.com, “California Indian Languages” is 400 pages long. It also says that California was once home to seventy-eight languages, the most linguistically diverse area in the New World.
According to the Now blog, “Golla’s compendium cites everything known about the languages of California as they have been recorded and transcribed by linguists and anthropologists since the 1880s” and includes other earlier sources as well.
For language maps of California, see “California Indians Root Languages and Tribal Groups” and “Native Tribes, Groups, Language Families and Dialects of California in 1770.”
Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe – a cartoon with Lakota values and Lakota dialects
Posted: 15 September 2011 Filed under: Cartoons, Dialects, Lakota (lkt), Media, Television, United States Leave a comment »The Berenstain Bears are a family of bears in Bear Country who deal with various situations in their bear society. Popular among children and educational professionals for 49 years, the Berenstain Bears have a series of books as well as cartoons and video games. According to “About the Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe TV Series,” the values in the original series such as bravery, respect, generosity and fortitude are shared by the Lakota culture.
The Berenstain Bears was therefore selected to be made into the first Native American language cartoon series, and after more than a year of work, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Lakota Language Consortium have begun airing episodes—two are being released each week, according to “Native American Version of Berenstain Bears Launches Soon.”
The Lakota Bears site is also making the episodes available to the public after airing. Two are available right now. The site also offers an introduction to the voice actors and the project, and will offer the DVD in November 2011.
It is common in cartoons for the characters to have different speaking styles or dialects, and one of the key features of “Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe” is that the characters have different Lakota dialects, representing all ways of speaking Lakota.
It can be difficult to capture the attention of children. This is a model project that will hopefully not only catch kids’ attention, but teach them strong values and assist them in learning to speak Lakota.
Lakota (lkt) is a language spoken primarily in North and South Dakota in the US as well as surrounding states and in Canada.
Thanks to Summer Vodder for the tip. The story about “Matȟó Waúŋšila Thiwáhe” is spreading rapidly through the media, and can now be found on SFGate, the Huffington Post, and Rachel Maddow’s blog.
What is Gegawewamingo Miniss?
Posted: 13 September 2011 Filed under: Chippewa (ciw), Games, Ojibwe (oji), Online dictionaries, United States Leave a comment »Answer: Stockton Island.
Question: What is Gegawewamingo Miniss?
Answer: Bear.
Question: What is makwa.
So goes Ojibwe Jeopardy, a game invented by Ojibwe park rangers David and Daniel Grooms. As all language learners know, the acquisition of vocabulary is a long, painful process, and a wide range of activities can make learning more fun.
The article “Citizen Dave: St. Scholastica students fight to keep the dying Ojibwe language alive” in the online Isthmus talks about efforts of the Grooms brothers to learn and revitalize Ojibwe, along with a brief history of efforts by the US government to eradicate the Ojibwe language.
Ojibwe (oji) is a macrolanguage with eight dialects according to Wikipedia, and seven according to the Ethnologue. The variety spoken on the Red Cliff Reservation is Chippewa (ciw). Of 720 first-language speakers of Chippewa, one is on Red Cliff, and of about 75,000 second-language speakers, 50 are on Red Cliff–according to Wikipedia (and my calculations).
Hopefully Ojibwe Jeopardy will inspire people to increase that number, and the Red Cliff Band has language classes and resources (Objibwe Language) to help as well.
Wisconsin grants – up to USD 35K
Posted: 12 September 2011 Filed under: Grants & contests, United States Leave a comment »The American Indian Studies Program has a budget of USD 222,800 for language revitalization grants for 2011 to 2013. The AISP is a part of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in the United States.
The grants will be awarded to public school districts and cooperative educational service agencies that partner with a tribal government. Grants will generally be up to USD 35,000, and potentially higher in cases of consortium applications.
The deadline for application submissions is October 14. See the AISP page for further information and a link to the application.
For tribal nations and educational associations located in Wisconsin, see the Wisconsin Indian Education Association.
Wangka Maya in the news
Posted: 12 September 2011 Filed under: Australia, Endangered languages, Language centers Leave a comment »Wangka Maya, a language center in Pilbara, recently celebrated their 24th anniversary which was written up in the Pilbara Echo.
Pilbara is a region in the state of Western Australia, home to 31 languages.
