Language preservation is now a click, drag away

An Ontario First Nation has incorporated modern technology to help preserve some of the oldest Indigenous languages in Canada’s history.

Sagamok First Nation has teamed up with a simulation software company to produce a program that is designed to archive Aboriginal languages, while being an interactive teaching tool for everyone from young children to their parents.

“We all have technology in our face now and this is a nice opportunity to leverage that technology to preserve cultures and information going forward,” said president and CEO of mySmartSimulations Inc Bill Cornelius. His company partnered with Sagamok in 2009 to create a product that would complement their community’s strategy to cultivate more Native speakers of Ojibway.

The WILD Vernacular: Language Preservation Kit includes a laptop, microphone, wireless mouse, external hard-drive and the appropriate software to allow users to store any language, along with complimentary video and photographs.

The kit made its debut in March at the Anishinaabemowin-Teg Language Conference in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

A booth was set up at the annual conference to promote the new device and hopefully encourage other bands to consider the modern tool to help preserve Indigenous languages across the country.

The plan seems to have worked.

“We did the language conference and we received a call right away. We weren’t expecting it to happen so soon,” said Sagamok human resources manager Andrea Pesci, who is in the process of preparing a new kit to ship out to their first customer that placed an order at the conference.

The preservation kit retails for $3,995 and is shipped to communities throughout Canada and the United States within three to four weeks. For an additional fee, bands can access upgraded software that connects the entire community with the vernacular system.

Cornelius, whose company is based out of New York, said he is excited his company could help create a cost effective device that empowers First Nations to preserve their own language for a modest price.

“Our mission is to preserve the language, not to become millionaires,” said Cornelius.

He added that when it comes to language preservation within Canada’s Aboriginal population, Sagamok First Nation is the ideal band to help guide other communities who have the desire to record their language for future generations.

Located on the north shore of Lake Huron, Sagamok has created an immersion program that is producing students who are fluent in Ojibway by the third grade.

“It’s amazing how the students are retaining the language,” said Pesci. “The teachers want to get [the kit] into the classroom because now that the students are fluent, they want them to start recording their stories.”

In a 2006 census, Statistics Canada recorded that 12 per cent of Ontario’s Aboriginal population had knowledge of an Aboriginal language.

Many researchers have linked a healthy sense of identity to Aboriginal people who have knowledge of their ancestral language.

The president of Quebec Native Women Ellen Gabriel spoke out at the ninth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held April 22 on the sorry state of Indigenous languages in Canada.

A 2009 auditor general report predicts that only three of 50-plus Indigenous languages currently spoken across the country will likely survive the end of the century.
The potential loss of 94 per cent of Canada’s first languages could affect every aspect of Aboriginal culture.

“Language is more than just a form of expression and communication for Indigenous peoples,” said Gabriel in her speech. “It contains vital information that links us to our ancestors, our history, is the base of our spirituality and teaches us how to care and communicate with the land.”

The first template of the WILD Vernacular: Language Preservation Kit was created eight months ago. Since then, both partners have tweaked issues of sound quality and software design.

Sagamok is in the process of organizing a Webinar- a seminar available online- that will be used to showcase how the language kit works. Pesci said the online seminar is the perfect opportunity for interested bands to learn more about the kit before they purchase.

mySmartSimulations Inc was founded in 2001 and is the original creator behind Worldwide Interactive Learning Designer (WILD), an application that specializes in custom interactive training courses.

More information is available at: http://www.mysmartsim.com/vernacular.asp