Al-Jazeera English reports on Amazigh speakers in Libya.
Although the language appears not to be endangered (Ethnologue reports the language to have at least 2,540,000 speakers in Algeria, and it isn't included on the UNESCO list, notably, ehtnologue does not list any speakers in Libya); this clip describes attempts by the Libyan Government to stamp it out, and a new radio station, newspaper, and school class in the language. All coming into existence since the recent uprising.
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Breath of Life Project
In: UTA helps Native Americans learn to save own languages, The
Arlington Star Telegram Reports on the Breath of Life Program.
The program is "a joint effort by experts from the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Oklahoma -- in which linguists mentor American Indians so they can better recover endangered languages."
According to the article, members of the Osage, Otoe and Natchez communities took part in the first workshop.
The project is modelled after a project of the same name at Berkeley
Arlington Star Telegram Reports on the Breath of Life Program.
The program is "a joint effort by experts from the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Oklahoma -- in which linguists mentor American Indians so they can better recover endangered languages."
According to the article, members of the Osage, Otoe and Natchez communities took part in the first workshop.
The project is modelled after a project of the same name at Berkeley
Friday 17 June 2011
Language Activist recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours
Channel Nine: Language lover listed in Queen's honours
Arrernte elder, Veronica Mary Dobson has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the indigenous community as a linguist, naturalist and ecologist.
Not only is it pertinent to this blog that she has been honoured in this way, but also that Channel Nine saw fit to create an article specifically about her receipt of the medal, rather than as a footnote in a larger Honours List article.
Arrernte elder, Veronica Mary Dobson has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the indigenous community as a linguist, naturalist and ecologist.
Not only is it pertinent to this blog that she has been honoured in this way, but also that Channel Nine saw fit to create an article specifically about her receipt of the medal, rather than as a footnote in a larger Honours List article.
Thursday 16 June 2011
The Existential Problems of minority cultures.
The Australian: Speaking one's mother tongue is vital
Noel Pearson writes in The Australian on the existential problems of Indigenous Australians, and by extension, other minority cultures ("Where are the Livonians today?", and "The Swedes on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...under Russian or Soviet domination").
He makes particular mention of the Guugu Yimdhirr, to whom the author "belongs historically and linguistically, and through descent.", but also mentions the Yolngu.
He states that "Anglophones, such as non-indigenous Australians, have difficulty understanding the existential angst of small ethnicities." because "The English language and the Anglophone culture are the most powerful forces in history."
He ends with a plea:
Noel Pearson writes in The Australian on the existential problems of Indigenous Australians, and by extension, other minority cultures ("Where are the Livonians today?", and "The Swedes on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...under Russian or Soviet domination").
He makes particular mention of the Guugu Yimdhirr, to whom the author "belongs historically and linguistically, and through descent.", but also mentions the Yolngu.
He states that "Anglophones, such as non-indigenous Australians, have difficulty understanding the existential angst of small ethnicities." because "The English language and the Anglophone culture are the most powerful forces in history."
He ends with a plea:
If you don't know an indigenous Australian language, learn one. (People with no indigenous Australian family may learn the language of the area with which they have the strongest ties.) If you know an indigenous Australian language, improve your grasp of it; literacy in Australian languages is still rare.
Then speak it to the children. This is the noblest and worthiest cause for an Australian patriot.
Monday 6 June 2011
Guardian: on the Kayapó people and the Belo Monte dam.
In The Brazilian tribe that played by our rules, and lost, Jacqueline Windh, writes for The Guardian on the effects of the proposed Belo Monte Dam on the Kayapó People.
The dam is planned to flood the Xingu River Basin, displacing the Kayapó. The Kayapó attempted to block the project by "launching petitions and protests, and engaging media and lawyers."
The issue is personalised. It is accompanied by a photograph of "Raoni Txucarramãe, chief of the Kayapó people", rather than simply "A Kayapó person".
Unlike many of the articles I have reported on so far, this article makes good use of links to reference sources. Linking to the wikipedia pages for Kayapo People and Yaghan People not only allows the reader to gain more in-depth information about the subject, it also makes it far easier to find out exactly who is being referred to, by disambiguating between groups with similar names, and providing a form of canonical identifier, where alternate spellings exist.
Rather than linking to Wikipedia when mentioning the Selk'nam People, they link to their empty review page for the book Drama and Power in a Hunting Society,
a book about the Selk'nam.
The dam is planned to flood the Xingu River Basin, displacing the Kayapó. The Kayapó attempted to block the project by "launching petitions and protests, and engaging media and lawyers."
Notable features of the article
The issue is personalised. It is accompanied by a photograph of "Raoni Txucarramãe, chief of the Kayapó people", rather than simply "A Kayapó person".
Unlike many of the articles I have reported on so far, this article makes good use of links to reference sources. Linking to the wikipedia pages for Kayapo People and Yaghan People not only allows the reader to gain more in-depth information about the subject, it also makes it far easier to find out exactly who is being referred to, by disambiguating between groups with similar names, and providing a form of canonical identifier, where alternate spellings exist.
Rather than linking to Wikipedia when mentioning the Selk'nam People, they link to their empty review page for the book Drama and Power in a Hunting Society,
a book about the Selk'nam.Also Mentioned
The Selk'nam and Yaghan people (speakers of Ona and Yaghan, respectively).
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