Project documents unique Inuit sign language (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

Nunavut
September 26, 2008

Project documents unique Inuit sign language
Like Inuktitut, this language also carries Inuit culture

JOHN BIRD

Dr. Jamie MacDougall likes to joke that he "discovered" Inuit Sign Language the
same way Christopher Columbus "discovered" America - by getting lost.

The joke, of course, is that neither of these were real "discoveries," for
anyone besides the Qallunaat.

The indigenous peoples of the Americas knew where they were, and knew intimately
the land they still call home. Likewise, deaf Inuit have always made daily use
of their own sign language, and continue to use and develop it regularly with
family and friends.

Nevertheless, MacDougall's "discovery" led to a multi-year project, now
supported by the Nunavut Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth
(CLEY) and the Department of Justice, to document the use of sign language
unique to deaf Inuit people, and to provide written and audio-visual learning
materials to support it.

Access full article below:
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/80926_1564.html