Tag Archives: traditionallanguage

Module 1, Post 4

I think this website represents the potential for how technology, specifically computers, can benefit Indigenous culture! It is interactive, hands on, and relevant. It includes recordings of several Indigenous languages and specific high frequency words from each. When you click a certain language, you have the option of learning more words from that Nation, playing games, or seeing pictures of their territory.

When technology is used correctly, I feel like this is the positive power it has. Language is an aspect of Indigenous culture that is dying and it is important to preserve it. It can take a long time to truly learn another language, this way there is always an opportunity to learn.

Module 1, Post #4 – Revitalizing Indigenous Language Through Technology

Our planet is home to over 7000 languages currently spoken, yet this unique linguistic diversity—the defining characteristic of our species—is under extreme stress, as are the indigenous communities that speak these increasingly endangered languages.

Indigenous and other historically marginalized speech communities are leveraging new digital tools and technologies in inspiring ways to reclaim their languages and move historically oral traditions into online spaces.

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is working on various collaborative projects that aim to utilize speech- and text-based technologies to assist the stabilization, revitalization and reclamation of Indigenous languages. I have included a screenshot of the different projects from the website: https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/programs/canadian-indigenous-languages-technology-project

M1. P2.

Indigeneity is tied to land and place. I’m very interested in learning more about the importance of place and identity and how technology can be integrated in a meaningful way to support this. I came across an incredible program from Pirurvik, which is an Inuit-owned center of learning based in Nunavut’s capital, Iqualuit. Through this program, there is an online free opportunity called Tusaalanga which allows anyone to learn Inuktut in seven different dialects and with thousands of sound files. This can be accessed anywhere you have wifi or internet. Furthermore, Pirurvik has launched a packet of 3 keyboards for use on Apple’s iPhone for free so that it can be converted into syllabics on screen. This was really exciting to see because the people who identify with this land, have not only created a holistic space where Inuit language, cultural expression, and wellbeing would be fully integrated but have also done so with various technologies.

You can visit Pirurvik by clicking HERE

You can visit Tusaalanga by clicking HERE

– Sasha Passaglia