News from Recovering Voices

2015 National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages Begins with a Boom

06/03/2015

Washington, D.C’s extreme heat and booming thunderstorms on Monday were nothing short of intense and awe inspiring–you might say a nod to the atmosphere at Breath of Life 2015’s opening day.

Monday June 1, 2015, marked the official opening of the 2015 biennial 2-week National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages on the National Mall, Washington, D.C.  Participants and instructors representing 14 different languages from across North America settled in to the grand Commons Room of the Smithsonian Castle building for the opening day. The ceremony was filled with welcoming introductions aimed at setting participants on the right track to make the most of their 2-week institute, especially in terms of advancing their research and developing the confidence to speak their languages. 

This is the third National Breath of Life held in Washington, D.C. This gathering was co-organized by the Myaamia Center at Miami University and Recovering Voices and co-hosted by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian as well as the Library of Congress. Breath of Life provides community researchers with the opportunity to access invaluable Smithsonian Institution archives and collections related to their languages and cultures.  Each day of the institute begins with linguistic and archival research training to best equip the participants for their afternoons of intensive research in the archives and collections.    

Stirring opening talks were given by several distinguished speakers including Smithsonian’s Richard Kurin (Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture), John Kress (Interim Under Secretary for Science), Kevin Gover (Director, National Museum of the American Indian), Kirk Johnson (Director, National Museum of Natural History), Guha Shankar (Folklife Specialist, Library of Congress), Torben Rick (Chair, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History) Daryl Baldwin (Director, Myaamia Center at Miami University), Gabriela Peréz Baéz (Director, Recovering Voices), Leanne Hinton (Co-Founder, Breath of Life) and L. Frank (Co-Founder, Breath of Life). Each speaker emphasized the mutually beneficial nature of Breath of Life. Community researchers will acquire a wealth of new information and understanding of their indigenous languages that they could not acquire elsewhere given the unparalleled collections at the Smithsonian's archives and the Library of Congress. Likewise, as community researchers visit and utilize the collections and archives, they impart new knowledge that enriches and sustains the Smithsonian collections, ultimately bringing new life to these historic resources. 

The participants at BOL are selected from a growing competitive pool of applicants. Some 29 community researchers representing 14 different language communities were selected from a pool of 130 applicants. Selected applicants are all actively engaged in language and cultural revitalization of varying degrees (from beginners to Linguistic graduate students) and are expected to disseminate their research findings and results with their broader community upon completion of Breath of Life. Participants arrive at BOL with their own unique stories and motivation for being here. However, across the board, participants share a common conviction that the research that they will conduct while in Washington, D.C. is timely, and vital in order to recover and revitalize their languages. 

Breath of Life is supported by the National Science Foundation Documenting Endangered Languages program with contributions from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding and substantial in-kind support is provided by Recovering Voices. In-kind support is provided by the National Museum of Natural History’s National Anthropological Archives and Collections, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Library of Congress.  

Follow the event on Twitter by following @RecoverVoices or #BreathofLife2015.