Globalization has brought huge benefits to billions of people. One of its drawbacks has been the acceleration of the disappearance of many indigenous languages around the world.
In North America, there are 278 different languages that are classified as vulnerable or endangered by the UN. In some cases, like that of the Ho-Chunk people in Wisconsin, only a few dozen people speak the language fluently.
On this edition of Global Journalist, a look at efforts to revive North American indigenous languages in danger of extinction.
Joining the program:
- Gregory Anderson, president of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages in Salem, Oregon.
- Mary Linn, curator of cultural and linguistic revitalization, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, D.C.
- Richard Grounds, director of the Yuchi Language Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Kevin Scannell, a professor of computer science at Saint Louis University and creator of IndigenousTweets.com