Latest news with #IndigenousLanguages
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
There's an app for that: Inside the technological battle to save Indigenous languages
'I will fight until the day I die for my language to survive and thrive.' Yvette Mollen's passion for championing Innu-aimun is unwavering. The professor, researcher, author and web content developer has dedicated most of her adult life to recording, preserving and passing on her ancestors' tongue, an Algonquian language spoken by some 10,000 Innu in Quebec and Labrador. One way she does this is by developing interactive online games that help children learn Innu-aimun, while also seeing how their people lived, and still could live, on the land. For Ms. Mollen — the recipient in 2024 of the Order of Quebec for her linguistic initiatives — Innu-aimun is the language closest to her heart, but all languages matter and deserve support to stay alive. 'Because if the Creator had wanted us all to speak the same language, he would have made it so,' she says. In fact, the United Nations estimates that of the 7,000 or so languages spoken worldwide today, some 47 per cent are threatened or endangered, most of them Indigenous tongues. In Canada, there are more than 70 distinct Indigenous languages spoken by First Nations, Inuit and Métis, but according to Canada's 2021 census, only 13.1 per cent of the Indigenous population reported knowing how to speak their traditional languages, down from 21.4 per cent in 2006. What's more, there is not a single Indigenous language in Canada that is not at risk, with the level of peril going from vulnerable (when a given language is still 'used by some children in all domains' or 'by all children in some domains') to definitely, severely and critically endangered (when only a few Elder speakers remain). On the critically endangered list are Haida and Tse'khene/Sekani, both with as few as a dozen speakers. But even Cree, which includes various regional dialects and has more than 86,000 speakers, is considered vulnerable. ('Cree' is the colonial name for these languages and peoples.) In Canada, the threats against Indigenous language use and proficiency are rooted in colonialism and assimilation policies. Historically, this was accomplished through residential schools, which forced children to speak only English or French and punished those who were caught conversing in their own languages. Consequently, many Indigenous people gave up speaking their mother tongues and did not pass them on to their children, a loss that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, declared a form of cultural genocide. But several communities and academic institutions across Canada are braiding tradition and technology to strengthen vulnerable languages, or even pull them back from the brink. The FirstVoices website, a joint project by the First Peoples' Cultural Council and the First Peoples' Cultural Foundation, has served as a platform for more than 50 Indigenous nations in Canada, the United States and Australia to share their languages since 2003. And increasingly, Indigenous people are creating websites, apps and online tools, including interactive dictionaries, YouTube beginner courses, grammar and pronunciation guides and archives of stories passed down from elders. Take York Factory First Nation (YFFN) in northern Manitoba. It wanted a way for members to easily access materials to learn Inineemowin, their dialect of Swampy Cree. Since most youth these days are attached to a smartphone, an app was the logical learning tool. But the First Nation also wanted a resource that would reflect who and where they are, and where they come from—an app steeped in history and the local context. So when Jordan Dysart, a Cree-Métis software developer with Winnipeg-based Vincent Design, was tasked with creating YFFN's Inineemowin language app, he looked to the nation's knowledge holders. 'To capture the specifics, you need to be sensitive regarding cultural knowledge and what you put forward,' he says, adding that the app, built mainly for YFFN's members, would also be out there for anyone to use. Together with a language committee and cultural advisers from the community, and in collaboration with the Winnipeg design firm HTFC, they workshopped ways to deliver grammar in a non-academic, grassroots way. The result features audio files and flashcards based on aspects, objects and activities specific to the nation's location and culture. Through its eight-module Learning Pathway, it guides beginners through basic Swampy Cree grammar, vocabulary and phrases through activities that would take place on the land, such as observing and tracking animals, but also through traditional skills like hunting and sewing. 'They wanted to share their story in their specific language,' says Mr. Dysart about York Factory First Nation. 'The Inineemowin app is a fingerprint of the community.' One in a regular series of stories. To read more, visit our Indigenous Enterprises section. If you have suggestions for future stories, reach out to IE@
News.com.au
18-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
New workshop connects Spokane School with Central Australia in Alice Springs
'Proven' American methods of language learning are coming to the Red Centre capital to help keep some of Australia's dying languages alive. Hailing from Washington state, the Salish School of Spokane will be hosting a two-day workshop in partnership with the Pertame School and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in Alice Springs. Kicking off on Thursday and running until Friday, the workshop is offering the Salish School's 'proven method' of language learning, Pertame Language Nest co-ordinator Vanessa Farrelly said. 'The Salish School has a proven method of creating advanced adult speakers within just one year of training, who can then go on and be teachers in the Salish School of Spokane, a complete immersion school from preschool to grade 8,' she said. The Salish School will be bringing its fluency transfer system method of learning, which event spokesperson and past participant Samantha Armstrong said will be 'a significant moment for our language revival program.' 'Learning the first steps to creating new speakers of any Indigenous languages using the Salish Fluency Transfer System has ignited the fire within me,' she said. 'The Salish family's personal journey reconnecting and revitalising their mother tongue deeply resonated with me. Their words were our words. The two days of the workshop were interactive and were ran so effectively.' The Salish comprise of four groups of Indigenous Americans from the Pacific Northwest of America, with the Salish School working to keep their Indigenous languages alive. The workshops will cover the Salish journey, their curriculum, and the practical applications which can be put on Indigenous languages around the globe. 'Australia has one of the fastest rates of language extinction in the world' Ms Farrelly said. 'It is critical that our Australian endangered language groups come together and look to Indigenous peoples globally to learn from the most successful pathways to grow new fluent speakers. 'It is a matter of urgency, while we still have our precious few Elders speakers with us.'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Latin American countries to launch own AI model in September
By Fabian Cambero SANTIAGO (Reuters) -A dozen Latin American countries are collaborating to launch Latam-GPT in September, the first large artificial intelligence language model trained to understand the region's diverse cultures and linguistic nuances, Chilean officials said on Tuesday. This open-source project, steered by Chile's state-run National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) alongside over 30 regional institutions, seeks to significantly increase the uptake and accessibility of AI across Latin America. Chilean Science Minister Aisen Etcheverry said the project "could be a democratizing element for AI," envisioning its application in schools and hospitals with a model that reflects the local culture and language. Developed starting in January 2023, Latam-GPT seeks to overcome inaccuracies and performance limitations of global AI models predominantly trained on English. Officials said that it was meant to be the core technology for developing applications like chatbots, not a direct competitor to consumer products like ChatGPT. A key goal is preserving Indigenous languages, with an initial translator already developed for Rapa Nui, Easter Island's native language. The project plans to extend this to other Indigenous languages for applications like virtual public service assistants and personalized education systems. The model is based on Llama 3 AI technology and is trained using a regional network of computers, including facilities at Chile's University of Tarapaca and cloud-based systems. Regional development bank CAF and Amazon Web Services have supported it. While currently lacking a dedicated budget, CENIA head Alvaro Soto hopes that demonstrating the system's capabilities will attract more funding.
CNA
17-06-2025
- Science
- CNA
Latin American countries to launch own AI model in September
SANTIAGO :A dozen Latin American countries are collaborating to launch Latam-GPT in September, the first large artificial intelligence language model trained to understand the region's diverse cultures and linguistic nuances, Chilean officials said on Tuesday. This open-source project, steered by Chile's state-run National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) alongside over 30 regional institutions, seeks to significantly increase the uptake and accessibility of AI across Latin America. Chilean Science Minister Aisen Etcheverry said the project "could be a democratizing element for AI," envisioning its application in schools and hospitals with a model that reflects the local culture and language. Developed starting in January 2023, Latam-GPT seeks to overcome inaccuracies and performance limitations of global AI models predominantly trained on English. Officials said that it was meant to be the core technology for developing applications like chatbots, not a direct competitor to consumer products like ChatGPT. A key goal is preserving Indigenous languages, with an initial translator already developed for Rapa Nui, Easter Island's native language. The project plans to extend this to other Indigenous languages for applications like virtual public service assistants and personalized education systems. The model is based on Llama 3 AI technology and is trained using a regional network of computers, including facilities at Chile's University of Tarapaca and cloud-based systems. Regional development bank CAF and Amazon Web Services have supported it. While currently lacking a dedicated budget, CENIA head Alvaro Soto hopes that demonstrating the system's capabilities will attract more funding.
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Language revitalization linked to better Indigenous health, says UBC research
New research to come from UBC highlights the positive link between Indigenous language revitalization and the health and wellbeing of First Nations communities. (Courtesy: MoA) Editor's note: This story mentions suicide. If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling or texting Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988. A list of local crisis centres is also available here. Indigenous communities have long touted the wellness benefits of speaking and sustaining their ancestral languages, and now there's evidence that supports it – courtesy of new research from the University of British Columbia. The review, led by a UBC team and assisted by the University of Toronto and the University of Sydney, saw researchers analyze more than 260 studies from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand for references of language use being connected to better health. The most surprising element of the findings wasn't that there was a connection between the two but the extent of that connection, with various aspects of health shown to be benefitted by First Nations members conversing in their own language. 'I think a lot of people are aware that there is a link between the two at some capacity, but there hasn't really been a thorough review to see what this link really is, how prevalent it is, what it means exactly,' said Julia Schillo, a PhD student in the department of linguistics and co-author of the study. 'I hear a lot about how language revitalization has been important for First Nations people for things like trauma healing and for mental health, but there were so many articles talking about how it played into things like physical health and diet and spiritual well-being, too,' she said, noting how around 78 per cent of the material discussed a positive correlation. Stronger educational performance, greater social connection and, in some cases, lower suicide rates, were also found to be directly connected to the use of Indigenous language. Many of the findings, particularly from studies in Australia and northernmost Canada, showed how there are typically better outcomes when health services are offered in First Nations languages, with patients more likely to better understand their treatment plans, and feel more comfortable and respected in a medical facility. Likewise, there were worse health outcomes reported when patients weren't able to receive health care in the language they needed. 'There were some reports of issues with people receiving health care without being able to provide informed consent, or translators not being called even when they were available,' said Schillo. The research process had been lengthy and involved Schillo and the study's lead author Louise Harding searching a number of databases, pulling around 10,000 potential articles and going through the summaries of those articles for relevant information. That search was then narrowed to 1,000, then a few hundred. Schillo hopes it will be the first of many studies into the relationship between health and Indigenous language use, as further research is needed to truly understand the finer elements, like the potential confounding variables. 'Socioeconomics, English language, fluency, things like that that need to be looked at in more detail to actually get a solid picture of what's going on here,' she said. Mark Turin, an anthropologist, UBC associate professor and co-author of the study, said the next step should be two-fold. First of all, there needs to be 'grounded, site-specific, ethnographically informed and culturally rich studies' of the specific Indigenous communities who have established language programs. Turin said he would also like to see a pivot towards research that focuses more on the strength and resilience of First Nations communities. 'Some of the formative research has been about negative associations, whether through causation or correlation, namely a decline in Indigenous youth suicide being related to language transmission and cultural continuity,' he said. 'This is extremely important research, but also really painful because of the devastating effects of suicide in Indigenous communities.' For further research and efforts to revive Indigenous language to get underway, however, funding, of which there is little, is required. 'Right now, so much language revitalization work is being done on short-term funding grants that are not guaranteed to be renewed,' said Schillo. 'That interruption undermines the long-term investment that it could provide to people's health.'
