Indigenous Language Activists

CURRENT INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE ACTIVISTS


Mr. Andrés Ozuna
Ɨshɨr Chamacoco tribe of Paraguay
2009-present

Mr. OzunaAndrés Ozuna is an Ɨshɨr (Chamacoco) language activist from Karcha Bahlut, Paraguay. With the assistance of an Enduring Voices language technology kit that he received in 2009, Andrés has produced a bilingual Ɨshɨr-Spanish book on traditional plant uses among the Ɨshɨr (Ishiro ôreyuwo poruwo/Sabiduria de los Ishir del Chaco). He has also recently written a short book on the Ɨshɨr concept of truth in the Ɨshɨr (Chamacoco) language.

At the Enduring Voices language revitalization workshop in Santa Fe, Andrés produced the first-ever digital storybook in the Ɨshɨr language. He is the primary figure behind the Ishir (Chamacoco) Living Dictionary. Today he is continuing his tireless campaign to promote his native language and working on a range of different projects in Ɨshɨr. He collaborated with Living Tongues Program Director Anna Luisa Daigneault to publish Ɨshɨr Ɨbitoso – Español dictionary in 2021, with support from Living Tongues. Ozuna currently serves as Communications Coordinator for the Union of Ɨshɨr Nation Indigenous Communities (UCINY).

Published Materials: The Ɨshɨr Concept of Truth

 


FORMER INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE ACTIVISTS

Mark Franco
Winnemem Wintu tribe of California
2010-2014

Mr. FrancoMark Franco was Headman of the Winnemem Wintu community based at the Winnemem Wintu village located outside of Redding, CA. An activist for the Winnemem Wintu community, Mark is an expert in a diverse array of topics ranging from indigenous rights, water access and development, restoration of the environment and return of the salmon to their traditional territories, now prevented from reaching the Winnemem or Middle Water (aka McCloud River) by a dam. Mark also spearheaded the revitalization efforts for the Winnemem Wintu language. At the workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico led by the Indigenous Language Institute and supported by National Geographic’s Enduring Voices Project and Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, Mark produced a beautiful short film and a small booklet in the revitalizing Winnemem Wintu.

Published Materials: Counting Booklet & Waimem’s First Mocassins


Dr. Bhubaneshwar Sawaiyan

Ho Tribe, Ho Language Project
2008 – 2010

Dr. Sawaiyan Bhubeneshwar Sawaiyan is a Ho language activist from Jharkhand state, India. An expert in tribal journalism, Dr. Sawaiyan produced a digital storybook on the traditional wedding practices of the Ho people, who represent a large tribal minority group whose language belongs to the Munda language family.

Dr. Sawaiyan also produced a short booklet in the Ho language at the Santa Fe workshop held in April, 2010. He is currently is the personal secretary to Indian Government Minister, Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, the most prominent and senior government official representing a tribal community in India.

Published Materials: Hermit Story & Ho Web Sketch

Dr. Taiwo Opeyemi Agoyi
Akoko Languages Project
2013 – 2018

Taiwo_AgoyiDr. Taiwo Opeyemi Agoyi did her first degree in the University of Ilorin Nigeria where she obtained a BA (Ed) in Language Art (Yoruba), 2nd Class Upper Division, in 1992. In 1997, she obtained an MA in Yoruba Language, and joined Adekunle Ajasin University (Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria) as an Assistant Lecturer in 2001. She obtained her Ph.D in Linguistics in 2001 in the Department of Linguistics and Languages, Faculty of Arts, Adekunle Ajasin University, under the training of Professor Oladele Awobuluyi and Professor Francis O. Oyebade.

The title of her thesis was “The Phonology of Àbèsàbèsì Vowel Harmony”. Her research has since focused on the linguistic description and documentation of Akoko languages. She received theoretical training in language documentation and tools for documentation and data analysis at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, London, UK), as well as at the University of Uyo (UNI UYO), Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko (AAUA) as a member of the PMI2 collaboration between the three universities.

She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Language, Faculty of Arts, Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. She is a member of Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN); Niger-Congo Language Congress; West African Linguistic Society (WALS); and the World Congress of African Linguistics (WALC).

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