Increasingly the world’s indigenous people are recognizing the value of using digital environments in the battle against the extinction of their languages and cultures (Hermes & King 2013). Likewise as indigenous languages become increasingly visible on the internet, perceptions of them as antiquated, irrelevant or anachronistic in the Information Age are […]
Africa • Arctic • Asia • Central America • Europe • First Nations • indigenous language • language and technology • language documentation • language learning • Middle East • North America • Pacific • revitalization • South America • virtual classroomHeenetiineyoo3eihiiho’ (Language Healers) tells the story of Indigenous language revitalization
About the Film From the scribe.org website: Heenetiineyoo3eihiiho’ (Language Healers) (2014, 40 min) tells the story of Native Peoples fighting to revitalize their languages. From Alaska to Oklahoma and Wisconsin to Montana, we witness stories about the importance of saving Native languages and meet some of the people who are […]
documentary • endangered language • indigenous language • Living Tongues InstituteNyungar Knowledge Networks: an Aboriginal online encyclopedia
Excerpt from “New media to throw a lifeline to an ancient language” published February 11, 2014 on the University of Western Australia website. A new project will create the world’s first Aboriginal online encyclopedia as a way of preserving the ancient and endangered Noongar language – one of Australia’s biggest […]
aboriginal • Australia • indigenous / traditional knowledge • Nyungar / Noongar#imld14: International Mother Language Day
Today is designated International Mother Language Day by UNESCO. From the UNESCO IMLD site: International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, […]
indigenous language • language • language | preservationCreating Digital Maps to Help Preserve Cultural Heritage of Kamchatka Community
Originally published on the UA News website by Yara Askar (January 29, 2014). Excerpt University of Arizona anthropologist Benedict Colombi is leading a public-private project to help a Russian indigenous people preserve its language and cultural knowledge. The workshop and mapping project in Kamchatka stemmed from UA anthropologist Benedict Colombi’s […]
Google • indigenous / traditional knowledge • indigenous communities • Itelmen • Kamchatka • mappingRingbalin River Stories: app provides virtual exploration of story and ceremony down the Murray Darling River
From the Ringbalin: River Stories website: Ringbalin: River Stories is a groundbreaking multiplatform documentary that invites you to take a journey along the Murray Darling Rivers guided by Elders of the oldest cultures on earth. A video about Ringbalin: River Stories from their now-closed Indiegogo campaign… Whether you are on […]
application • Australia • digital storytelling • indigenous / traditional knowledge • RingbalinIndigenous Rights and Social Media – a Sámi example
This blog post discusses indigenous uses of social media with the example of resistance against exploitation of the land and its raw materials in Swedish Sápmi – the cultural homeland of the Sámi, indigenous people of Europe. A growing conflict in Gállok was in the news in the summer of […]
2013 • Gállok • human rights • indigenous communities • mining • Sámi • social mediaTraveling Through Layers: reflections on the “ikiaqqivik” tweet
I thought this was interesting… on average, an @ethnosproject tweet gets 4-5 retweets and a few favorites. That is the norm for tweets about resources, calls for papers, projects of interest, etc. Yesterday, I posted this tweet about the Inuit word for Internet: Inuktitut term for the word Internet is […]
internet • Inuit • Inuktitut • Nunavut • TwitterCalling all failures – curating a collection of cautionary tales
A few years ago, I stumbled across a discussion on Facebook that briefly mentioned the Ethnos Project. I wasn’t able to find it again for reference, but I recall that one of the participants had come away from this site with the feeling that the project (or rather, I as its creator) […]
appropriate technology • cultural heritage • failure • ICT4D • ICTs • unintended consequencesMexican village launches autonomous cellular network
A small indigenous village in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico launched what could be a new paradigm in local telecommunications services: a community-run carrier-grade autonomous cellular network. With the support of US-based international non-profit Rhizomatica, the Zapoteco village Villa Talea de Castro now offers cell phone service for its residents […]
cellular service • ICT • indigenous • network • Oaxaca | Mexico • Telcom • telecommunicationsMozilla Firefox in Indigenous Languages
The Mozilla in Mexico community supports efforts to translate and localize the internet browser Mozilla Firefox into indigenous languages of Latin America. Their website currently features modules for 26 indigenous languages across Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador, including kichwa, tz’utujil, yaqui, and others. If you would like to install Mozilla Firefox […]
browser • firefox • indigenous • indigenous language • internet • localization • mozilla • software • translationIndigenous Language Apps & Online Indigenous Language Dictionaries
Someone on the Indigenous Language and Technology (ILAT) listserv recently inquired about multimedia dictionaries. I checked the Ethnos Project Resources Database to see what was listed and found only a handful of relevant items. We do have a growing list of Indigenous language apps (see this post by Rachael Petersen), […]
dictionary • indigenous language • language | preservation • language apps • resourcesSummit Addresses Indigenous Digital Divide in Australia
This post, written by Ethnos Curator Rachael Petersen, originally appeared on the Rising Voices website. Online heritage databases, an indigenous app to connect peoples worldwide, a network of recycled digital devices, and an Aboriginal digital social enterprise are just some of the responses to the focus of a recent summit […]
aboriginal • Australia • conference • design • ICT4D • indigenous • Torres Strait IslanderiDecolonize: a review of indigenous-language learning apps
Last week, I published a review of indigenous language mobile applications on my personal blog, Global Native Networks. In it, I review over ten mobile apps developed to help teach endangered and marginalized languages. Rising Voices picked up the piece and republished a version on their site. I raised several […]
application • ICT4D • indigenous / traditional knowledge • indigenous language • mobile technology • new mediaIndigenous Tech and Media News Roundup: June
Every month Ethnos Project team member Rachael Petersen publishes a roundup of indigenous technology and media articles in the news at her blog Global Native Networks. Below are the June highlights NORTH/SOUTH/CENTRAL AMERICA The BBC profiles virtual activism for the indigenous tribes of Brazil, particularly powerful in light of injustices such as the […]
community media • impact of | ICTs • indigenous communities • indigenous technologySouth Africa To Launch National Traditional Knowledge Recording System
Published on ip-watch.org 10 May 2013 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch While diplomats are trying to find consensus on an international instrument to protect traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization, some countries are establishing systems to protect their traditional knowledge domestically. South Africa will be launching on 24 […]
database • indigenous / traditional knowledge • intellectual propertyUsing Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages
This conversation, hosted by New Tactics in Human Rights, took place between November 16-22, 2011. Conversation Summary From the New Tactics website: Thank you for joining New Tactics, Rising Voices, Indigenous Tweets, and other practitioners for an online dialogue on Using Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages*. The United […]
community media • endangered language • language | preservation • Rising Voices • UNESCOLiving Our Indigenous Languages in a Multimedia Technology Enhanced World
About the Event Saturday April 13, 2013 9:30am – 3:30pm Sty-Wet-Tan Hall UBC First Nations Longhouse 1985 West Mall RSVP to this Language Gathering FREE and open to the public Pay parking available in the Fraser River Parkade Please join us for this exciting event that will bring together language […]
indigenous language • language | preservation • multimedia • revitalizationDecolonizing the Digital North: Roadblocks to Inuit internet access
Arctic Frontiers conference presentation Rachael Petersen, Ethnos Project collaborator and independent researcher, recently gave the presentation below on indigenous internet access at the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway. The presentation, titled “Decolonizing the Digital North: Roadblocks to a greater Arctic indigenous internet presence,” focuses on the structural and cultural barriers to […]
CCCCan the digital age save the Cherokee language?
Phil Cash Cash, who runs the Indigenous Language and Technology listserv at the University of Arizona, sent this out today… Can the digital age save the Cherokee language? The halls of Facebook, Google and texting Written by Becky Johnson, published on Wednesday, 30 January 2013 [source] Excerpt: “Susan Gathers was […]
2013 • Cherokee • endangered language • impact of | ICTs • indigenous language • language | preservation • revitalization • youthFour Directions Teachings: Indigenous Knowledge from five First Nations
A few days ago, Jennifer Wemigwans with Invert Media sent me a message suggesting a resource for the Ethnos Project Resource Database: Four Directions Teachings. Thought I’d step it up a notch and dedicate a post to the site. Four Directions is a vibrant and interactive online experience with an […]
Blackfoot • Cree • education • First Nations • Haudenosaunee • indigenous / traditional knowledge • Mi'kmaq • Mohawk • Ojibwe / Ojibway • oral traditionDigital Technology for Indigenous Empowerment
The article below was originally published on the Christensen Fund website on September 5, 2012 by Ken. Olisarali Olibui carries a Kalashnikov rifle in one hand and a camera in the other. A member of one of Ethiopia’s most isolated tribes – the Mursi – Olibui knows his culture’s way […]
introSecwepemctsin language app for Nintendo DSi and soon iPad
From The Daily News (Kamloops): Nintendo scores for native language “With as few as 150 fluent Secwepemctsin speakers remaining, most of them over age 65, the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society has come up with software for preserving the language. Nintendo DSi software that teaches Secwepemctsin to young children is in […]
aboriginal • application • education • FirstVoices • language | preservation • Nintendo • revitalization • Secwepemctsin • tablet / iPadAcknowledging Indigenous protocols: Traditional Knowledge (TK) licenses and fair-use labels
From the Mukurtu website: Mukurtu CMS (mentioned before on this site) makes it possible for you to share your digital cultural heritage using a set of innovative traditional knowledge licenses and labels specifically designed for the unique needs of Indigenous cultural materials. Mukurtu CMS provides several TK license options for […]
content management system • cultural protocols • indigenous / traditional knowledge • indigenous communities • intellectual property • MukurtuTime Machine 1986: Linguists call for TV to save Aboriginal languages
Click image to see a larger version of the article. More articles by Geoff Maslen at The Age.
1986 • Australia • indigenous language • language | preservation • television • Torres Strait Islander