Bridging Cultures: How Technology is Empowering Indigenous Language Revitalization

As eLearning specialists, we’re fascinated by the power of technology to bridge knowledge gaps and create connections. Recently, we’ve been working on a non-profit project that makes that kind of contribution – the Either/Orth WordPress plugin, a tool that empowers Indigenous language revitalization.

Digitally-driven Indigenous language revitalization

UNESCO estimates that 40% of the world’s languages are in danger of disappearing, including several Canadian Indigenous languages. Many are still struggling, while others are well on the way to becoming revitalized.

In the face of this challenge, we’re witnessing a digitally-driven language resurgence: Technology is becoming a powerful ally in the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages. Some notable examples here in Canada include:

• FirstVoices –  A project by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) that offers web-based tools and services to support Indigenous people in language archiving, language teaching, and culture revitalization.
• The Michif Language Project – This BC Métis Federation initiative is focused on preserving the critically endangered Michif-French dialect by developing a full curriculum and resource library for beginner-level learners. Some other great Michif resources include the Gabriel Dumont Institute and Prairies to Woodlands.
• Ojibwe Net – A living language must be spoken fluently and used creatively. We have created this space so that the ancient sounds are not lost and are available to anyone willing to listen, learn, and labor with us to maintain Anishinaabemowin.
• The Sanyakola Project – A collaborative effort at North Island College to support the resurgence and restoration of Kwakwaka̱’wakw pedagogy and methodology encoded in Kwak’wala, exploring the link between language revitalization and holistic wellness.

Pathwise WordPress plugin automates conversion 

At PathWise Solutions, we are making a contribution to this larger effort through our support and ongoing development of the ‘Either/Orth’ WordPress plugin, a tool to assist Indigenous language writers and teachers in translating between the various ‘orthographies’ – written scripts – used to write each language. Throughout the entangled history of colonialism, anthropological and linguistic research, and Indigenous-led language revitalization efforts, different methods have been used to phonetically transcribe languages like Kwak̓wala, that require numerous diacritical marks to represent them in the roman script.

The result has been competing orthographies that are often very different from each other! For example, U’mista, UVic IPA/NAPA, Boas, and Grubb are four different orthographies that are all used to represent the Kwak̓wala language.

Either/Orth automates the process of converting from one orthography to the other, allowing texts to be converted using a simple online interface. 

The tool was developed originally by Patrick Littel, then at UBC, and is available under an open source MIT license at https://orth.nfshost.com/. Maxmuwidzumga (Carla Voyageur), a Kwak̓wala language revitalization teacher and former PathWise Solutions staff member, approached us to see if we could adapt the tool for use in WordPress. 

We were happy to rise to this challenge, and developed a WordPress plugin that can be freely accessed and used at https://pathwisesolutions.com/either-orth/, or downloaded for installation on any WordPress site.

Our development team is looking forward to continuing to improve the Either/Orth plugin and make it available for download and use by whomever needs this language conversion capability. We are also happy to work with Indigenous language experts to expand the range of languages and orthographies supported by the tool.

Do you have an Indigenous educational or revitalization project that you’d like to pursue? PathWise Solutions is an Indigenous-led company that is happy to help move projects like yours forward! Contact us to discuss your project.