new organisation

[Mari Rhydwen]

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CALL FOR INTEREST

ANNOUNCING the creation of a nonprofit, nongovernmental, international
organization devoted to preserving the world's linguistic diversity, and to
investigating parallels and links between biological and cultural
diversity, TENTATIVELY CALLED:

*Terralingua: Partnerships for Biolinguistic Diversity*

Dear Colleague:

Last July, at a Symposium on Language Loss and Public Policy held at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, some of the participants began
discussing proposals to form an organization to preserve the world's
linguistic diversity.  Beyond this, these participants determined that any
such organization ought to coordinate with groups working to preserve the
diversity of species and ecosystems, thereby emphasizing the mutually
reinforcing importance of cultural and biological diversity. At that time,
a small ad hoc organizing committee formed to hammer out a statement of
purpose for the organization.

After going through a number of drafts, we, the members of this ad hoc
committee, now feel ready to announce the formation of the organization and
issue this Call for Interest to gauge potential support from you and
others.  We *tentatively* propose to call our organization "Terralingua:
Partnerships for Biolinguistic Diversity" (see below for more on the name).

The organization will have two basic purposes.  First, to preserve the
world's linguistic diversity in all its forms, regardless of political,
demographic, or linguistic status.  This means that we are concerned with
the loss of any form of language, whether it be an endangered language, a
disappearing dialect of a non-endangered language, declining bilingual use
of a language (endangered or not) within a given country, and so forth.  As
you can see, the emphasis is on diversity as a whole rather than
endangerment, though of course we will necessarily be deeply involved in
supporting the preservation of critically endangered forms of language.

We also are convinced that attempts to preserve either linguistic or
biological diversity will ultimately not succeed unless both are preserved;
that is, we believe in a holistic view of diversity in culture and nature.
Thus, Terralingua's second basic purpose is to promote the investigation of
the parallels and links between cultural diversity (of which linguistic
diversity is an important part) and biological diversity.  We want to build
bridges between groups and individuals working to save languages and
cultures and those working to save species and ecosystems.  All of this is
fleshed out in the organization's Statement of Purpose, which is attached
to this Call for Interest.

What exactly do we propose to do?  Initially, our goals are modest.  First
of all, we want to serve as a rallying point for those who share our
beliefs and who want to join us in doing something.  Second, we want to
solicit your suggestions on how we can establish the partnerships that are
at the heart of the Terralingua vision.  We particularly want to reach out
to community-based groups and individuals working on "the front lines," so
we would appreciate it if you could send us contact information for those
that you know of.  Third, we want to hear from you about what you think the
organization's priorities should be.  Once all this is in place, we will
pursue a specific plan of action.  As you well know, much needs to be done
on all sorts of fronts.  But we think that, working together, we have the
talent, vision, and energy to make a difference for diversity.

INTERESTED?
We invite you to help us in making this organization a living, working
reality.  Start by giving us your ideas on building partnerships and
priorities for action.  We would also like to have your suggestions for
what the organization should be called.  Some of us like the "Terralingua"
name with the subtitle, but others find the "Terralingua" part
frivolous-sounding and obscure and have suggested a more straightforward
name, such as "Coalition for Biolinguistic Diversity" or, simply,
"Partnerships for Biolinguistic Diversity."  What do you think?  E-mail
your ideas, along with your name, mailing address, telephone/fax, and
e-mail address, along with any suggestions or comments, to:

David Harmon (Provisional Secretary)
gws at mail.portup.com

The initial announcement of the organization is being made through e-mail
postings to a variety of lists serving the disciplines listed in the
Statement of Purpose.  Based on the response,  we will then do a regular
mailing to potential members and partners who do not use e-mail.  On or
around 15 February 1996, those who have responded will receive a prospectus
for the organization containing a detailed statement of structure and a
preliminary plan of action.  At that time you will have an opportunity to
formally join, if you wish (there is no obligation).  We anticipate asking
for modest membership dues (on the order of US$10.00 per year) to fund the
operation of the organization.

With thanks in advance for your consideration,
The Terralingua Organizing Committee (gws at mail.portup.com)

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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
"Terralingua: Partnerships for Biolinguistic Diversity"

A.  We recognize:

1. That the diversity of languages and their variant forms is a vital part
of the world's cultural diversity;
2. That cultural diversity and biological diversity are not only related,
but often inseparable; and
3. That, like biological species, many languages and their variant forms
around the world are now faced with an extinction crisis whose magnitude
may well prove very large.


B.  We declare:

4. That every language, along with its variant forms, is inherently
valuable and therefore worthy of being preserved and perpetuated,
regardless of its political, demographic, or linguistic status;
5. That deciding which language to use, and for what purposes, is a basic
human right inhering to members of the community of speakers now using the
language or whose ancestors traditionally used it; and
6. That such usage decisions should be freely made in an atmosphere of
tolerance and reciprocal respect for cultural distinctiveness-a condition
that is a prerequisite for increased mutual understanding among the world's
peoples and a recognition of our common humanity.


C.  Therefore, we set forth the following goals:

7. To help preserve and perpetuate the world's linguistic diversity in all
its variant forms (languages, dialects, pidgins, creoles, sign languages,
languages used in rituals, etc.) through research, programs of public
education, advocacy, and community support.
8. To learn about languages and the knowledge they embody from the
communities of speakers themselves, to encourage partnerships between
community-based language/cultural groups and scientific/professional
organizations who are interested in preserving cultural and biological
diversity, and to support the right of communities of speakers to language
self-determination.
9. To illuminate the connections between cultural and biological diversity
by establishing working relationships with scientific/professional
organizations and individuals who are interested in preserving cultural
diversity (such as linguists, educators, anthropologists, ethnologists,
cultural workers, native advocates, cultural geographers, sociologists, and
so on) and those who are interested in preserving biological diversity
(such as biologists, botanists, ecologists, zoologists, physical
geographers, ethnobiologists, ethnoecologists, conservationists,
environmental advocates, natural resource managers, and so on), thus
promoting the joint preservation and perpetuation of cultural and
biological diversity.
10. To work with all appropriate entities in both the public and private
sectors, and at all levels from the local to the international, to
accomplish the foregoing.

(END)

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The George Wright Society
P.O. Box 65
Hancock, Michigan 49930-0065 USA
telephone (906) 487-9722   *   fax (906) 487-9405
e-mail:    gws at mail.portup.com           or          gws at mtu.edu

                                ****************
Dr Mari Rhydwen,
Graduate School of Education,          *
The University of Western Australia,   * why is it all so beautiful this fake
Nedlands,                              *                              dream
Perth 6009,                            *this craziness why?
Western Australia.                     *
Tel: 09 380 2431  Fax: 09 380 1052                         (IKKYU)
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