YouTube - Navajo Language Academy 2007 - 0 views
-
akoyako :-) on 24 May 08(Less info) The Navajo Language Academy (NLA) is a non-profit educational organization comprised of linguists and language teachers who are devoted to the teaching, scientific study, and promotion of the Navajo language. Language is at the heart of the human experience and is one of our most valuable cultural resources. For indigenous peoples, language represents an immediate link to our ancestors and is a crucial element in maintaining a cultural identity after centuries of conquest and assimilation. Although Navajo is one of the only North American indigenous languages with enough remaining speakers to potentially survive, it is today an endangered language that could easily become another casualty without sufficient resources and support. While most Navajo elders still speak Navajo, recent reports indicate that fewer than 10% of Navajo four-year-olds do. Navajo is not being passed to our youngest generation. At the current rate of attrition, our language is expected to be extinct in a few more generations. If this happens, it would mean that no indigenous language in the United States or Canada will have survived the European conquest and avoided becoming a dead language. The Navajo Language Academy is working to preserve and promote the Navajo language. The NLA, comprised of Navajo linguists and language teachers with advanced training, vast experience and extreme dedication, offers intensive annual workshops on Navajo language pedagogy and linguistics. Growing enrollment in NLA workshops and the large number of articles and books authored or co-authored by NLA-affiliated Navajo linguists over the past decade give testament to the enthusiastic participation of the Navajo community. However, many interested Navajo educators -- including language, math, and science teachers -- are unable to attend the workshops because they cannot afford to. Tax-deductible contributions to the Navajo Language Academy will allow the NLA to provide its training and support of Nav