The National Museum of Language honors and supports language acquisition and preservation.
Our resources and events related to language revitalization and preservation include:
Dictionary of South Saami
English – South Saami
This dictionary was created by a team of volunteer linguists who based their work on three previously published dictionaries. The indigenous languages of the Saami people are spoken across the northers regions of the Scandinavian countries. They are endangered but recent efforts to preserve them are underway.
Indigenous and Native Culture Month
November 2022
Try this quiz to see if you can guess which words in English come from Native American languages or European languages.
Words fromNative American Languages
Unscramble the words
These are state nemes from indigenous languages.
Alaska Native Heritage Curriculum
Brandon Locke
In the spring of 2021 the brand-new 3rd grade social studies curriculum, “The Nest Egg,” was unveiled, to be put into use in ASD classrooms starting the 2021-22 school year.
Interview with Brandon Locke
With Greg Nedved
Brandon Locke is Director of the World Languages and Immersion Programs at the Anchorage School District.
Hawaiian Language Programs
Education from Pre-K – 16
See videos of the various programs in Hawaii.
Tim Brookes
Endangered Alphabets
Interview with Tim Brookes of the Endangered Alphabets Project
Bringing a Script into the 21st Century:
A Mayan Epigraphic Project
Thomas Witten
Thomas Witten spoke on the development of a computer program that allows a user to easily write in Mayan glyphs
Kurdish: An Understudied Language of the Middle East
Dr. Michael L. Chyet
Dr. Michael L. Chyet, a renowned expert on Kurmanji, the main dialect of Kurdish, spoke about the Kurdish language in the context of the Middle East and how he came to create a textbook and dictionary.
Alaska Native Heritage Curriculum
Brandon Locke
In the spring of 2021 the brand-new 3rd grade social studies curriculum, “The Nest Egg,” was unveiled, to be put into use in ASD classrooms starting the 2021-22 school year.
Indigenous Language Revitalization in North America: A View from the Field
Dr. Craig Kopris
Dr. Craig Kopris has nearly three decades of training and experience in language description and endangered language revitalization, with a particular emphasis on Iroquoian languages. He has been a consultant with indigenous language activists and officials from several nations in the U.S. and Canada, teaches classes for the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute, and served as a linguist for Carnival Films’ Jamestown series.