Stabilizing Indigenous Languages

"Stabilizing Indigenous Languages is the proceedings of two symposia held in November 1994 and May 1995 at Northern Arizona University. These conferences brought together language activists, tribal educators, and experts on linguistics, language renewal, and language reforms, and community initiatives to stabilize and revitalize American Indian and Alaska Native languages. Stabilizing Indigenous Languages includes a survey of the historical, current, and projected status of indigenous languages in the United States as well as extensive information on the roles of families, communities, and schools in promoting their use and maintenance. It includes descriptions of successful native language programs and papers by leaders in the field of indigenous language study, including Joshua Fishman and Michael Krauss"--Back cover.

Stabilizing indigenous languages is the proceedings of two symposia held in November 1994 and May 1995 at Northern Arizona University. These conferences brought together language activists, tribal educators, and experts on linguistics, language renewal, and language teaching to discuss policy changes, educational reforms, and community initiatives to stabilize and revitalize American Indian and Alaska Native languages. Stabilizing indigenous languages includes a survey of the historical, current, and projected status of indigenous languages in the United States as well as extensive information on the roles of families, communities, and schools in promoting their use and maintenance. It includes descriptions of successful native language programs and papers by leaders in the field of indigenous language study, including Joshua Fishman and Michael Krauss.

"Teaching Indigenous Languages is a selection of papers presented at the Fourth Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium "Sharing Effective Language Renewal Practices" held at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, on May 1, 2, and 3, 1997. This conference brought together nearly three hundred indigenous language experts, teachers, and community activists to share information on how indigenous languages can best be taught at home and at school. The twenty-five papers collected here represent the experiences and thoughts of indigenous language activists who are working in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico. The papers are grouped under six categories: tribal and school roles, teaching students, teacher education, curriculum and materials development, language attitudes and promotion, and a summing up of thoughts about maintaining and renewing indigenous languages"--Back cover.

Conference papers examine efforts by Indigenous communities, particularly Native American communities, to maintain and revitalize their languages. The 27 papers are: "Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Maori: The Language Is the Life Essence of Maori Existence" (Te Tuhi Robust); "The Preservation and Use of Our Languages: Respecting the Natural Order of the Creator" (Verna J. Kirkness); "Maori: New Zealand Latin?" (Timoti S. Karetu); "Using Indigenous Languages for Teaching and Learning in Zimbabwe" (Juliet Thondhlana); "Language Planning in a Trans-National Speech Community" (Geneva Langworthy); "The Way of the Drum: When Earth Becomes Heart" (Grafton Antone, Lois Provost Turchetti); "The Need for an Ecological Cultural Community" (Robert N. St. Clair, John A. Busch); "Building a Community Language Development Team with Quebec Naskapi" (Bill Jancewicz, Marguerite MacKenzie, George Guanish, Silas Nabinicaboo); "Methods of Madness: The Tuscarora Language Committee" (Francene Patterson); "Daghida: Cold Lake First Nation Works towards Dene Language Revitalization" (Heather Blair, Sally Rice, Valerie Wood, John Janvier); "The Jicarilla Apache Language Summer Day Camp" (Maureen Olson); "Report on the Workshop 'World of Inuktitut'" (Janet McGrath); "Awakening the Languages: Challenges of Enduring Language Programs; Field Reports from 15 Programs from Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma" (Mary S. Linn, Tessie Naranjo, Sheilah Nicholas, Inee Slaughter, Akira Yamamoto, Ofelia Zepeda); "A Native Language Immersion Program for Adults: Reflections on Year 1" (David Kanatawakhon Maracle, Merle Richards); "The Importance of Women's Literacy in Language Stabilization Projects" (Jule Gomez de Garcia, Maureen Olson, Melissa Axelrod); "Teaching Reading with Puppets" (Ruth Bennett); "Assessing Lakota Language Teaching Issues on the Cheyenne River Reservation" (Marion BlueArm); "Incorporating Traditional Nehiyaw/Plains Cree Education in the University" (Myron Paskemin, Donna Paskemin); "Collecting Texts in Craho and Portuguese for Teaching" (Sueli Maria de Souza); "Early Vocabularies and Dictionary Development: A Cautionary Note" (Blair A. Rudes); "The Process of Spelling Standardization of Innu-Aimun (Montagnais)" (Anne-Marie Baraby); "Maintaining Indigenous Languages in North America: What Can We Learn from Studies of Pidgins and Creoles?" (Anne Goodfellow, Pauline Alfred); "Ojibway Hockey CD ROM in the Making" (Shirley I. Williams); "The Use of Multimedia and the Arts in Language Revitalization, Maintenance, and Development: The Case of the Balsas Nahuas of Guerreo, Mexico" (Jose Antonio Flores Farfan); "The Languages of Indigenous Peoples in Chukotka and the Media" (Galina Diatchkova); "Language Revitalization Using Multimedia" (Peter Brand, John Elliott, Ken Foster); and "Meeting of the Inuktitut and Yup'ik Family of Languages, May 12, 2000" (Guy Delorme, Jacques Raymond). (SV)

This 2009 book includes papers on the challenges faced by linguists working in Indigenous communities, Maori and Hawaiian revitalization efforts, the use of technology in language revitalization, and Indigenous language assessment. Of particular interest are Darrell Kipp's introductory essay on the challenges faced starting and maintaining a small immersion school and Margaret Noori's description of the satisfaction garnered from raising her children as speakers of her Anishinaabemowin language. Dr. Christine Sims writes in her American Indian Quarterly review that it "covers a broad variety of topics and information that will be of interest to practitioners, researchers, and advocates of Indigenous languages." Includes three chapters on the Maori language: Changing Pronunciation of the Maori Language - Implications for Revitalization; Language is Life - The Worldview of Second Language Speakers of Maori; Reo o te Kainga (Language of the Home) - A Ngai Te Rangi Language Regeneration Project.

Focusing on the Americas – home to 40 to 50 million Indigenous people – this book explores the history and current state of Indigenous language revitalization across this vast region. Complementary chapters on the USA and Canada, and Latin America and the Caribbean, offer a panoramic view while tracing nuanced trajectories of "top down" (official) and "bottom up" (grass roots) language planning and policy initiatives. Authored by leading Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, the book is organized around seven overarching themes: Policy and Politics; Processes of Language Shift and Revitalization; The Home-School-Community Interface; Local and Global Perspectives; Linguistic Human Rights; Revitalization Programs and Impacts; New Domains for Indigenous Languages Providing a comprehensive, hemisphere-wide scholarly and practical source, this singular collection simultaneously fills a gap in the language revitalization literature and contributes to Indigenous language revitalization efforts.

Selected papers from the 25th Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium held in Lethbridge, Alberta, June 7-9, 2018, and hosted by the Peigan Board of Education and Iniskim (University of Lethbridge).