What can we consider from community organizing? I have been working this summer as an intern with Where Are Your Keys in the community of St. Paul, Alaska, where a local language team is leading the revitalization of the native language, Unangam Tunuu. The experience has directed my a
A Revitalization Success Story Shana Tova! Happy Jewish New Year! As I prepare to sing prayers and songs with my family in Hebrew tonight, I am reminded of the impressive revitalization story of the Hebrew language. Today Hebrew (called עברית or “Ivrit” in Hebrew) is spoke
The We Speak! Gala for the Squamish Language Last month I wrote about my work with Kwi Awt Stelmexw in support of Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Language revitalization. This week I am shamelessly promoting a special event happening later this week: the We Speak! Fundraising Gala is this Frid
Questions Everyone Asks about My Job Since October 2015, I have been working with Kwi Awt Stelmexw, a non-profit in Vancouver dedicated to strengthening Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) language and culture. The Skwxwú7mesh Peoples are Indigenous peoples whose territory includes modern-day Vanc
The Musqueam Place Names Map In an earlier post about learning one of Vancouver’s local Indigenous languages, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, I reflected that if I had learned the original names for the places around me as a child, it might have led to a deeper understanding of our local histor
Reflections on Multi-generational Language Loss A guest post by fellow language lover and educator, Paloma Pacheco. In the latest edition of the excellent Maisonneuve magazine, journalist Chantal Braganza has something pretty important to say about language. Educators, researchers, an
Happy National Aboriginal Languages Day! Did you know that today is National Aboriginal Languages Day in Canada? Why do you think it might be important to teach and learn Aboriginal languages? I began to explore this and other questions when I started my job researching Intercultural
New Tools for Old Languages Last week, a friend sent me information about an upcoming gathering in Mexico for activists working with digital media to promote indigenous languages and culture online (información en español aquí). The invitation explains that over 300 indigenous languag
An Alliance for Linguistic Diversity I have written before about the importance of language preservation. When a language dies, we lose so much more than vocabulary; each language represents a distinct vision of the world and carries with it important scientific, cultural, and histori
Some thoughts on dabbling in a non-official language in Turkey The short answer No, I don’t need to learn Kurdish, but it will make my life more fun! Some background: Using Kurdish in southeast Turkey The Kurdish language (the Kurmanji dialect, if we are being more accurate) has
