Technologies and Languages
What role can technology play in indigenization of the information professions?
The effects of colonization on Indigenous languages have been devastating. Many children who were forced to attend residential schools or were victims of the Sixties Scoop became disconnected from their heritage and communities through loss of their language skills, and through federally mandated efforts to prohibit cultural activities and language. As Musqueam Elder Larry Grant has addressed, the dominant language of English, whether through residential schools or through new social norms enforced by English-speaking settlers, meant that many Indigenous people either forgot or never learned their nation’s language. [Include that video???] While efforts in language revitalization have been ongoing for a number of decades, they’ve largely been sequestered to where the few teachers are available, and with the number of Elders who are fluent reducing with the passing of time, important connections to cultures and Traditional Knowledge has continued to stay at risk.
Content from this module addresses iSchool Graduate Competencies 1.1, 1.3, 2.2, 4.1, 4.2
