Mapuche: March for Mapuzungun Recognition (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

February 23, 2012

Mapuche: March for Mapuzungun Recognition

Tuesday, February 21st [2012], was the “International Mother Language Day,”
although in Chile it is sometimes referred to as “International Day of
Indigenous Languages.” International Mother Language Day is a creation of
UNESCO and has been celebrated each year since 2000 and, as its name
implies, the purpose is to promote native languages around the globe. In
Chile, Indigenous peoples took time during the day to promote their own
languages and cultures in a variety of ways, including celebrations,
marches and public statements.

In Santiago, one of the largest organizations dedicated to Indigenous
languages—Red por los Derechos Educativos y Lingüísticos de los Pueblos
Indígenas de Chile (Red EIB)—released a public statement summarizing the
current state of  Indigenous languages in the country and calling on the
government to take concrete steps to preserve those same languages. Red EIB
indicated that Chile originally had eight spoken Indigenous languages, but
now that number has dropped to four, and none of those four languages are
spoken by more than one-third of their respective populations. The
statement went on to say that action was required to reverse this trend.

Access full article below:
http://www.unpo.org/article/13927
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