The Ktunaxa: Can the Internet Save a Language?

For these last Canadian indigenous people, the internet could be key to saving a language related to no other on earth. Can the internet save a language? For the Ktunaxa nation, an indigenous people inhabiting parts of north-western America, the answer may just be 'yes'. The Ktunaxa language is related to no other on earth and only a handful of people speak it fluently. Most of them are members of the oldest generation, something that has spurred a race against time for a community that must record and preserve as much of the language spoken today as possible. In a few years, it might already be too late. The challenge is not only to record endless hours of material but how to make it available to those wishing to learn the language. Here is where the internet comes in to play. Dedicated young community members, such as Marisa Philips, are working hard to publish recordings, interactive games for children and written language material online. "We're just going to be losing a lot of who we are as the Ktunaxa nation, the Ktunaxa people, once those elders have passed on," Philips says. "Since the younger generation is so well adapted to using technology, it only makes sense to me." Full article and video here... http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/livingthelanguage/2012/04/20124161467967300.html  Also Check out these other short docs on Living the Language: Guatemala:  The Maya Many Mayans complain of feeling like foreigners in their own land - a sentiment compounded by the dominance of Spanish.  http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/livingthelanguage/2012/04/20124161358285740.html Australia:  The Aboriginal People Australia, which was once home to 200 languages, now suffers from the highest rate of language extinction in the world.  http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/livingthelanguage/2012/04/201241612291819363.html