Words Not Spoken: Digital humanities and the Future of Endangered Language

Abstract

This article explores how digital humanities can enhance the process of documenting and revitalizing endangered Indigenous languages. To better understand why so many Indigenous languages are in decline, a brief overview of colonial assimilation practices is presented. Moving from the past into the present, this text briefly surveys how immersion methods on Indigenous-developed IT platforms use interactive media to promote language learning. Reflecting on personal experience and professional practice teaching documentary film methods in Indigenous communities, this text focuses on the importance of creating maker spaces and promoting a culture of experimentation and collaboration when communities begin using technology to document and revive their languages. The assertion is also made that ongoing efforts to expand digital humanities practices at the local level and in the local language are central to language revitalization and decolonization.