Audio Story

The Power of Revitalization

Episode six of a six-part audio series exploring the struggle for Indigenous language survival in California.
Length: 35 min.
Place: California

To conclude the series, we explore the rapid rate of language loss occurring around the world and hear from speakers of endangered languages who are increasingly resisting predictions of extinction. We revisit the keepers of the Tolowa Dee-ni’, Karuk, Wukchumni, and Kawaiisu languages, who offer their thoughts, prayers, and hopes for the future of their languages and for the generations that will come after them.

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Colonizing California

This episode introduces language revitalization efforts in four Indigenous California communities and examines the colonizing histories that brought Indigenous languages to the brink of disappearance.

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In this episode, we meet the sole remaining fluent speaker of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ language and his family who are grappling with what is at stake if they lose their language.

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Karuk

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