The need to keep languages alive (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

GLOBAL VOICES

The need to keep languages alive

Sep 21, 2009 04:30 AM
CRAIG AND MARC KIELBURGER

Marie Smith Jones possessed more than the wisdom of her 89 years. She held the
knowledge of an entire culture.

Life in the small village of Cordova, Alaska hadn’t exactly been easy. Jones
married a fisherman and with him raised nine children. She survived influenza
and smallpox. She even beat alcoholism.

In her eighties, it was clear through Jones’ white hair and wrinkled face that
her wisdom was more valuable than any estate. When she died in her sleep in
January 2008 at the age of 89, her greatest possession – her culture and her
language – nearly died with her.

Marie Smith Jones was the last speaker of the Eyak language. Having never taught
it to her children, her native tongue now faced extinction.

“When the last speaker dies, the language is gone leaving no trace behind,” says
Luisa Maffi, director of Terralingua, an organization supporting biological,
cultural and linguistic diversity. “That’s why we need to maintain and
strengthen them, rather than waiting to the brink.”

Access full article below:
http://www.thestar.com/news/globalvoices/article/698453