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languages</title></head><body>
<div>Dear Friends,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I want to respond to the message below from Patrick-Henri
Burgaud. A web resource on endangered languages that provides accurate
information is to be welcomed. However, if you go to Burgaud's site
you may notice that the Australian section has the most peculiar
statements splashed across it. This is a result of representations
made to Patrick-Henri Burgaud by myself and David Nathan requesting
Burgaud to remove misappropriated material related to Australian
languages from his site. A letter to SSILA on the topic can be found
in the SSILA buletin<font color="#000000"> Number 147:
Septemb</font>er 22, 2001.<font face="Arial" color="#0000FF">
http://linguistics.buffalo.edu/ssila/bulletins/bulletin/bull147.PDF</font
><font face="Arial" color="#000000">.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>In my case, Burgaud took some pages from my Handbook of Western
Australian Aboriginal languages rather than linking to them, and
reduced the information that was presented about them in his work of
art.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>While the situation could have been remedied by Burgaud
acknowledging sources and removing photographs of individuals,
Burgaud chose to close off that section of his site, which is, of
course his prerogative.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>He further accuses linguists of holding on to material that he
suggests should be made freely available:</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"Peu leur importe que les langues et
ceux qui les parlent meurent. Assis sur leur matériel linguistique
comme un avare sur son tas d'or, ils interdisent toute diffusion
d'information au nom de leur notion étroite du copyright. Ils
estiment que les richesses sonores qu'ils ont ramassées partout
parce qu'elles sont à tout le monde leur appartiennent une fois
mises dans leurs boîtes, articles, thèses,
colloques."</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"It is of little concern to the ones
in authority that the languages and those who speak them are
threatened with extinction. Confortably seated on their lingustic
material, like a Scrooge on his pile of gold coins, they will forbid
any spread of information because their narrow sense of copyright.
They consider that the sonorous treasures gathered by them everywhere,
because they are for everybody, belong to them once they are contained
in boxes, papers, theses, and colloqies."
http://www.houseofthesmalllanguages.org/txts/closed.htm</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000000">This is offensive and indicates a lack of
understanding of the complexities of intellectual propery issues that
we enter into when we record indigenous languages. This material is
not 'for everybody' it is available subject to the wishes of the
people recorded.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">I am grateful to Mr Burgaud for bringing
these important issues into the public domain.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Nicholas Thieberger</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#000000">Project
Manager</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1"
color="#000000">PARADISEC</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#000000">Pacific And Regional
Archive for DIgital Sources in Endangered Cultures</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1"
color="#000000">http://www.paradisec.org.au</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#19261D"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1"
color="#19261D">nickt@paradisec.org.au</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#19261D">Department of
Linguistics and Applied Linguistics</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#19261D">University of
Melbourne</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#19261D">Vic
3010</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1"
color="#19261D">Australia</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Dear sirs,</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>new on the list, I should like to present
myself and the site I am</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>working on. My name is Patrick-Henri
Burgaud. I was born in France but I<br>
have been living for years in the Netherlands, where I studied<br>
linguistics.<br>
I am working on a web site called<br>
THE HOUSE OF THE SMALL LANGUAGES:<br>
http://www.houseofthesmalllanguages.org<br>
a virtual monument devoted to the seriously endangered languages,
all<br>
over the world. It is "a work in progress", in permanent
evolution.<br>
Keywords are: strong social engagement and participation. The
functions<br>
of the web site is to let know about the existence of dying languages
to<br>
the largest possible audience and to create and increase the
possibility<br>
of a permanent contact with and between all native speakers of<br>
endangered languages.<br>
My wish is to create for every language a separate own page,
with<br>
various information about the language, a sound sample of it, a
picture<br>
of one or more speakers nd/or a link with an already
existing home<br>
page in or about this language. It will become a tremendous huge
site.<br>
The House of the Small Languages is mirrored to by the West
Virginian<br>
University (it is at the moment under constuction). I try to update
it</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>with accurate information, which is very
difficult to get. Information<br>
about dying or recently died languages looks like military secrets,
it<br>
is very hard to get.<br>
I am very glad to have heard about the list and to become a
member.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
friendly yours with regards<br>
To know more about me and my interests, please visit the site<br>
http://home.tiscali.nl/burgaud/ruine/entree.htm<br>
-----------------------------------------------<br>
drs. Patrick-Henri Burgaud<br>
Zypendaalseweg 75<br>
6814 CE Arnhem<br>
http://houseofthesmalllanguages.org
<http://houseofthesmalllanguages.org/><br>
--<br>
<br>
<br>
André Cramblit: andre.p.cramblit.86@alum.dartmouth.org is the
Operations<br>
Director Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC<br>
(http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development
needs<br>
of American Indians<br>
<br>
To subscribe to a news letter of interest to Natives send an email
to:<br>
IndigenousNewsNetwork-subscribe@topica.com or go to:<br>
http://www.topica.com/lists/IndigenousNewsNetwork/subscribe/?location<span
></span>=listinfo<br>
</x-flowed></blockquote>
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