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The weeklong program, run by the Indigenous Language Institute, shows how to use multimedia technology tools and language material templates, such as storybooks, calendars and newsletters. On Tuesday, the class learned how to translate a children’s book from English into other languages, including Dakota and Oneida.
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Wayne Wells, right, and his cousin Leah Owen, translate a children’s book into their native Dakota language Tuesday during a workshop at Winona State University designed to help Native Americans preserve their language using technology. Wells and Owen plan to create learning materials in Dakota when they return to the Prairie Island Indian Community in Welch, Minn.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
About half of the world’s 6,000 or so languages are in danger of being lost, according to the National Science Foundation. Most languages die as people are pressured to assimilate to a more dominant culture and children grow up not speaking their parents’ native tongue.
“Our mission is to put the skills and tools of technology into the hands of communities working on preserving languages,” ILI executive director Inée Yang Slaughter said.
Participants can then use the technology to create educational materials in native languages. Keyboards can be adapted to different languages, and each participant gets a flash drive that adapts to their home computer accordingly.
The ILI is based in Santa Fe, N.M., and has a partnership with IBM that makes these workshops possible. Two are conducted each year in different regions.
Kathleen Moriarty works with bilingual and heritage language programs for the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul. She brought a Dakota-to-English dictionary to help her during the workshop. Moriarty hopes to take what she learns and apply it to other languages as well.
“The more I know, the more I can share,” Moriarty said.
Wayne Wells, 33, is a Dakota language consultant for the Prairie Island Indian Community in Welch, Minn. He is hoping to create learning materials in the Dakota language for his students. He works with students ages 7 to 14 and says that they know the Dakota language better than he did when he was their age.
“Technology can be used as a learning tool,” Wells said. “That’s what kids are used to.”
One of the goals of the workshop is to have participants produce storybooks in native languages that can be shared in their communities.
“Tribes are saying the storytelling tradition is dwindling,” Slaughter said. “This is one way to make sure stories don’t disappear.”
Contact Kãri Knutson at kknutson@winonadaily news.com or (507) 453-3523.
Ezzee wrote on Oct 3, 2007 8:43 PM: