This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when ... more This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when engaging in language revitalization efforts, and how those elements contribute to the adoption, adaptation, or abandonment of digital technology. I begin with framing the context of Indigenous languages in the United States and Canada to underscore the current realities in comparison to world languages. The next section introduces the uptake of digital technology for Indigenous language learning, based on the themes of equity, access, and engagement. I conclude with a case study of the Hawaiian language community as a potential model for Indigenous communities that choose traditional and contemporary pathways.
Acknowledging that extractive and non-relational language work have occurred and continue, it is ... more Acknowledging that extractive and non-relational language work have occurred and continue, it is imperative to understand that language is more than a system of communication that can be dissected. Language is culture – an embodiment of past histories, current realities, and imagined futures that is not void of people, land, and ancestral wisdom. Throughout the world, Indigenous communities are reasserting their sovereignty, self-determination, and inherent rights to protect their knowledges and languages from further desecration, misuse, exploitation, commodification, and self-promotional gain by academia (e.g., academic publications and recognition, promotion and tenure). When invited into community, it is necessary to approach our invitation with humility, to be fully cognizant of the privilege that allows us, as academics and researchers, to enter a foreign domain of learning. What may seem an insignificant invitation is in fact a relational response that trusts that our actions...
This research examines three American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) participants ... more This research examines three American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) participants who registered and completed the “Computer Applications for Indigenous Language Communities” course at the University of Arizona between summer 2003 and summer 2007, at a time when digital technology was emerging, particularly in Indigenous communities. The individual case studies document the training each student received during the course, software they were introduced to, and some of the projects they initiated and/or created at AILDI. Students also reflect on the benefits, challenges, and impact that digital technology has toward local language and cultural revitalization efforts as they each return to their respective communities. In addition, as universities are privileged spaces that afford a particular type of environment that may not mirror the technology and infrastructure in Indigenous communities, a set of recommendations are provided to guide academic institutions that offe...
This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when ... more This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when engaging in language revitalization efforts, and how those elements contribute to the adoption, adaptation, or abandonment of digital technology. I begin with framing the context of Indigenous languages in the United States and Canada to underscore the current realities in comparison to world languages. The next section introduces the uptake of digital technology for Indigenous language learning, based on the themes of equity, access, and engagement. I conclude with a case study of the Hawaiian language community as a potential model for Indigenous communities that choose traditional and contemporary pathways.
Within the last two decades, there has been increased interest in how technology supports Indigen... more Within the last two decades, there has been increased interest in how technology supports Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation efforts. This paper considers the effect technology has on Indigenous language learning and teaching, while conceptualizing how language educators, speakers, learners, and technology users holistically understand, skillfully apply and communicate creative and balanced technological solutions that are based on understanding of contextual factors. A total of 80 participants representing at least 47 Indigenous languages completed a survey in 2009 representing individuals, organizations, and institutions that serve one or more Indigenous language communities across the United States,
... First and foremost, we are grateful to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this... more ... First and foremost, we are grateful to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this project and others which have focused on energizing tribal libraries and providing technology training for many tribal members throughout the Southwest. ...
This paper describes our research practice using Indigenous languages to access and articulate th... more This paper describes our research practice using Indigenous languages to access and articulate the Indigenous knowledge systems and understandings of wellbeing from Indigenous language speakers. This research demonstrates community-engaged language revitalization practices involving (a) linguistic and cultural oversight in all forms of interpretation (b) the Rs of Indigenous education (Carjuzza & Fenimore-Smith, 2010; Galla, Kawaiʻaeʻa & Nicholas, 2014; Kirkness & Barnhardt, 1991), (c) Storywork principles (Archibald, 2008) and (d) language reclamation and documentation that will thrive in digital media. Our premise asserts that Indigenous language revitalizes us, not the other way around. If we take care of our language, it will take care of us. This is our wellbeing.
The cover of this WINHEC Journal includes the artwork of William John Leisha, whose tribal name i... more The cover of this WINHEC Journal includes the artwork of William John Leisha, whose tribal name is Cungelella Dura Danji and who is a Gungulu, Bidjarra man. The eldest son of Cungelella (Jean) & John Leisha, William has strong ties to his tribal practices and protocols that are ingrained deep within him. His art is based on stories passed down to him by his paternal grandfather, with whom he hunted on country as a young boy, his maternal grandmother and his mother Cungelella from who he takes the first part of his tribal name,
Utilizing multimedia technology allows for materials to be developed and disseminated, expands th... more Utilizing multimedia technology allows for materials to be developed and disseminated, expands the domains in which the language is used, provides relevance, significance and purpose, and also provides for preservation of Indigenous languages (Author 2009). This presentation discusses results from a course that enriches theory, practice and application with project-based outcomes (low-, mid-, and high-technology initiatives) based on the adapted technacy framework for Indigenous language revitalization (ATFILR). The ATFILR includes five components that are required to determine the appropriateness of the use of technology in Indigenous language revitalization: linguistic and cultural, social, technological, environmental, and economic factors. Every factor requires consideration of each of the other four factors to help decide the appropriateness of technology in response to local contexts and individual or community goals. Using this framework, the course created a platform to util...
This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when ... more This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when engaging in language revitalization efforts, and how those elements contribute to the adoption, adaptation, or abandonment of digital technology. I begin with framing the context of Indigenous languages in the United States and Canada to underscore the current realities in comparison to world languages. The next section introduces the uptake of digital technology for Indigenous language learning, based on the themes of equity, access, and engagement. I conclude with a case study of the Hawaiian language community as a potential model for Indigenous communities that choose traditional and contemporary pathways.
Acknowledging that extractive and non-relational language work have occurred and continue, it is ... more Acknowledging that extractive and non-relational language work have occurred and continue, it is imperative to understand that language is more than a system of communication that can be dissected. Language is culture – an embodiment of past histories, current realities, and imagined futures that is not void of people, land, and ancestral wisdom. Throughout the world, Indigenous communities are reasserting their sovereignty, self-determination, and inherent rights to protect their knowledges and languages from further desecration, misuse, exploitation, commodification, and self-promotional gain by academia (e.g., academic publications and recognition, promotion and tenure). When invited into community, it is necessary to approach our invitation with humility, to be fully cognizant of the privilege that allows us, as academics and researchers, to enter a foreign domain of learning. What may seem an insignificant invitation is in fact a relational response that trusts that our actions...
This research examines three American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) participants ... more This research examines three American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) participants who registered and completed the “Computer Applications for Indigenous Language Communities” course at the University of Arizona between summer 2003 and summer 2007, at a time when digital technology was emerging, particularly in Indigenous communities. The individual case studies document the training each student received during the course, software they were introduced to, and some of the projects they initiated and/or created at AILDI. Students also reflect on the benefits, challenges, and impact that digital technology has toward local language and cultural revitalization efforts as they each return to their respective communities. In addition, as universities are privileged spaces that afford a particular type of environment that may not mirror the technology and infrastructure in Indigenous communities, a set of recommendations are provided to guide academic institutions that offe...
This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when ... more This paper discusses some barriers, complexities, and opportunities Indigenous peoples face when engaging in language revitalization efforts, and how those elements contribute to the adoption, adaptation, or abandonment of digital technology. I begin with framing the context of Indigenous languages in the United States and Canada to underscore the current realities in comparison to world languages. The next section introduces the uptake of digital technology for Indigenous language learning, based on the themes of equity, access, and engagement. I conclude with a case study of the Hawaiian language community as a potential model for Indigenous communities that choose traditional and contemporary pathways.
Within the last two decades, there has been increased interest in how technology supports Indigen... more Within the last two decades, there has been increased interest in how technology supports Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation efforts. This paper considers the effect technology has on Indigenous language learning and teaching, while conceptualizing how language educators, speakers, learners, and technology users holistically understand, skillfully apply and communicate creative and balanced technological solutions that are based on understanding of contextual factors. A total of 80 participants representing at least 47 Indigenous languages completed a survey in 2009 representing individuals, organizations, and institutions that serve one or more Indigenous language communities across the United States,
... First and foremost, we are grateful to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this... more ... First and foremost, we are grateful to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this project and others which have focused on energizing tribal libraries and providing technology training for many tribal members throughout the Southwest. ...
This paper describes our research practice using Indigenous languages to access and articulate th... more This paper describes our research practice using Indigenous languages to access and articulate the Indigenous knowledge systems and understandings of wellbeing from Indigenous language speakers. This research demonstrates community-engaged language revitalization practices involving (a) linguistic and cultural oversight in all forms of interpretation (b) the Rs of Indigenous education (Carjuzza & Fenimore-Smith, 2010; Galla, Kawaiʻaeʻa & Nicholas, 2014; Kirkness & Barnhardt, 1991), (c) Storywork principles (Archibald, 2008) and (d) language reclamation and documentation that will thrive in digital media. Our premise asserts that Indigenous language revitalizes us, not the other way around. If we take care of our language, it will take care of us. This is our wellbeing.
The cover of this WINHEC Journal includes the artwork of William John Leisha, whose tribal name i... more The cover of this WINHEC Journal includes the artwork of William John Leisha, whose tribal name is Cungelella Dura Danji and who is a Gungulu, Bidjarra man. The eldest son of Cungelella (Jean) & John Leisha, William has strong ties to his tribal practices and protocols that are ingrained deep within him. His art is based on stories passed down to him by his paternal grandfather, with whom he hunted on country as a young boy, his maternal grandmother and his mother Cungelella from who he takes the first part of his tribal name,
Utilizing multimedia technology allows for materials to be developed and disseminated, expands th... more Utilizing multimedia technology allows for materials to be developed and disseminated, expands the domains in which the language is used, provides relevance, significance and purpose, and also provides for preservation of Indigenous languages (Author 2009). This presentation discusses results from a course that enriches theory, practice and application with project-based outcomes (low-, mid-, and high-technology initiatives) based on the adapted technacy framework for Indigenous language revitalization (ATFILR). The ATFILR includes five components that are required to determine the appropriateness of the use of technology in Indigenous language revitalization: linguistic and cultural, social, technological, environmental, and economic factors. Every factor requires consideration of each of the other four factors to help decide the appropriateness of technology in response to local contexts and individual or community goals. Using this framework, the course created a platform to util...
WINHEC: International Journal of Indigenous Education Scholarship
Indigenous language work is manifested in a diversity of community-led responses of resilience an... more Indigenous language work is manifested in a diversity of community-led responses of resilience and persistence. Indigenous persons who are reclaiming their languages have entered academia with goals of contributing to community language reclamation efforts and broader resurgence movements. Adapting Archibald's (2008) concept of storyworkexperiential narratives that privilege a cultural lens-we take a dialogic approach for scholar-educators to story their Indigenous language work within a web of interrelated relationships. From our positionalities as Chikashsha, Hopisino, Kanaka Hawaiʻi, myaamia, and Brazilian scholars, we ask and reflect on the following questions: Who are we storying with and for? What does language work look like in our community contexts and academic collaborations? How do we define cultural praxis in our work? What principles inform and emerge from our collective work? How do we co-construct knowledge that will sustain our language work and relationships? This reflective and reflexive process engages and maintains a continual balance of the cumulative past and present toward the future. Foremost, we aspire to act and work consistently in ways that are good for our peoples and communities, which includes a view of the research we undertake as purposeful journeying (Hill & Wilkinson, 2014) within our academic contexts and scholarship.
WINHEC: International Journal of Indigenous Education Scholarship
Indigenous language work is manifested in a diversity of community-led responses of resilience an... more Indigenous language work is manifested in a diversity of community-led responses of resilience and persistence. Indigenous persons who are reclaiming their languages have entered academia with goals of contributing to community language reclamation efforts and broader resurgence movements. Adapting Archibald's (2008) concept of storyworkexperiential narratives that privilege a cultural lens-we take a dialogic approach for scholar-educators to story their Indigenous language work within a web of interrelated relationships. From our positionalities as Chikashsha, Hopisino, Kanaka Hawaiʻi, myaamia, and Brazilian scholars, we ask and reflect on the following questions: Who are we storying with and for? What does language work look like in our community contexts and academic collaborations? How do we define cultural praxis in our work? What principles inform and emerge from our collective work? How do we co-construct knowledge that will sustain our language work and relationships? This reflective and reflexive process engages and maintains a continual balance of the cumulative past and present toward the future. Foremost, we aspire to act and work consistently in ways that are good for our peoples and communities, which includes a view of the research we undertake as purposeful journeying (Hill & Wilkinson, 2014) within our academic contexts and scholarship.
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