CHILE ATTEMPTS TO SAVE DYING LANGUAGES (fwd)

[jess tauber]

With the last speaker together with the recordings and analyzed print and manuscript materials, Yamana (Yagan, Yahgan) COULD be saved. But there seems to be some sort of quiet understanding to let it die. People in positions to help keep it alive are all but silent, though they've BEEN told that these materials exist and could be used to create teaching materials. Almost nobody seems at all interested in them (I felt like I was forcing them on the few who 'acquiesced'). And I'm not being kept informed of developments, despite requests. So please excuse me if I'm starting to feel that this is deliberate, even if not necessarily voluntary. Few can do as they please in the land of the Great Satan, and some people have a talent for antagonizing those in power.

One would hope for a general desire to save dying languages to trump ego, hatred, and whim. One would hope......

Jess Tauber