Speaking Volumes
Saving Native tongues at the Indigenous Language Institute
Of the world’s 6,800 spoken languages, linguists predict at least half will be extinct by the end of this century. That includes more than 100 in the U.S., where a mere 20 Native tongues are still spoken by all generations. Recognizing it for the crisis it is, the Indigenous Language Institute and its executive director, Inée Yang Slaughter, have transformed the 17-year-old organization into a national resource center for Native communities trying to reinject their native languages into daily life.
Their latest tool? Digital media. Audio-visual technology, especially, serves as the perfect Trojan horse for youth and in cultures with strong oral traditions. Over the past six years, ILI workshops have trained some 400 people from 115 tribes across the continent, creating more than 300 short films, audio recordings, and booklets in 113 languages. “And we know they have created more since going back,” says Slaughter.
Even in the Southwest, tribes are concerned they have too few elders as teachers. “A lot of my cousins understand the language very well, but aren’t fluent in speaking it,” worries Navajo workshop coordinator Rachael Nez. Not that that has discouraged Nez or anyone else at ILI. “We want to see language everywhere, all the time,” says Slaughter. “And for everybody.”
Support ILI by donating to the Native Language Fund:1501 Cerrillos, 505-820-0311, ilinative.org
