1

The Alaska Native Language Archive: Present and Future

PartnershipsStacey Baldridge

Collection Manager, Alaska Native Language Archive

University of Alaska Fairbanks

May 24, 2013

1

2

Alaska Native Language Center

founded 1972 by State legislation to be a center for research, documentation, and teaching of the 20 Native languages of Alaska

3

Archive Holdings

~ 1500 linear ft. manuscripts, including nearly everything written in or about Alaska Native languages

~ 5000 recordings

5

Language Families in Alaska

Eskimo-Aleut (5 languages) Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit (13 languages)

30+ others in Canada and lower 48originally called Na-Dene

Haida Tsimshian

Others?>14k sites in Tanana Valley“crossroads of continents”

6

Overview: Partnerships

6

Who is ANLA partnered with? Why partnerships are important Current and future challenges

ANLA Partnerships

Ahtna Heritage Foundation (C’ek’aedi Hwnax) Copper Center, Alaska (Ahtna Language)

Sealaska Heritage Institute, Juneau, Alaska (Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian)

Native Village of Afognak/Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska (Alutiiq)

Upper Kuskokwim Athabascan Language Preservation and Revitalization. Telida, Alaska Project (Upper Kusko)

7

Importance of Partnerships Access worldwide “Sharing the wealth” Building bridges and connections Further language research and documentation

8

9

Language documentation

• dictionaries

• grammars

• texts

• pedagogical materials

11

Current and Future Challenges

11

(digital) preservation (digital) access repurposing language materials integration with non-linguistic resources interface with local language archives outreach to community-based and

academic researchers

12

Digital preservation initial audio digitization efforts begun in 2000

in collaboration with Oral History 2003 founding member of Digital Endangered

Languages and Musics Archiving Network participant in NSF Electronic Metastructures

for Endangered Languages project (E-MELD) currently working with Surreal Studios to

digitize entire audio collection preservation of digital files at ARSC

12

13

Access via catalog

13

1414

16

17

Alutiiq Grammar

18

Vast majority of requests are non-linguistic

ethnobotany in the Yukon Flats region eulogy for Father Rysev genealogy in the Upper Koyukuk region Yup’ik music recordings photos from Prince William Sound region information on Russian influence in the middle

Kuskokwim River region.

19

For further discussion

19

How can we better collaborate on digital access and partnerships?

How can we better engage with communities to develop and repurpose repatriated materials?

How can partnerships benefit users as well as institutions?

smbaldridge@alaska.eduwww.uaf.edu/anla