Native Language Project » oral history

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cmoreno — Wed, 06 May 2009 06:06:16 +0000

something that i have been wanting to implement for almost a decade is an oral history project that records the stories, legends, and culture of native american elders. these are cultures that for the most part have little or no recorded history and as the elders of these tribes pass away, there’s often no-one to carry on that oral tradition, because the languages and knowledge are no longer passed on down to younger generations. …i have some connections in to the tribes and have been looking for others to partner up with to see if this would be a viable project. let me know if you think you might be interested.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=47&aid=146471 (article & interview by poynter, a news media thinktank)

http://www.scholastic.com/dreamincolor/digitalstorytelling/ (example program)

http://www.youtube.com/paiute007 (possible contributor/collaborator…(if someone is desired))

http://www.endangeredlanguagefund.org/native_voices.html (grant (many tribes are eligable)

Could post songs, stories, interviews, dances, all kinds of stuff. Catalog by tribe, and/or by location and say what language, etc. If something needs translating we open to the community to allow people to post translations.

I still think it’s an awesome idea. Using technology to preserve the past, spanning generations, etc. …could probably even get some sort of grant to teach tribal kids how to use the technology and then put it on the web for people to view, and it’d have the benefit of being like an interactive / multimedia museum of sorts, with the added benefit of having the young generation learn from the old and vice-versa.

notes

cmoreno — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:04:19 +0000

When I was doing some freelance work for the Native American Times about 9 years ago, we had an idea to preserve native american culture via online video, thereby passing down oral tradition down from older generations to the newer generations and record it using newer technology.

the first few updates on this site will basically be notes I’ve collected about getting this project started. here’s some information that i received from the office of the president of the navajo tribe:

I believe Diné College, the Navajo college, has a program to preserve Navajo language. That would be easy enough to check out.

Also, Congress passed the Esther Martinez Act last year that is designed to preserve native languages.

brainstorming

cmoreno — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:01:24 +0000

i am in the brainstorming process of putting together a website called the, “native language project” (http://www.nativelanguageproject.com/) which would be an oral history project that records the stories, legends, and culture of native american elders. these are cultures that for the most part have little or no recorded history and as the elders of these tribes pass away, there’s often no-one to carry on that oral tradition, because the languages and knowledge are no longer passed on down to younger generations.