Digital Field Documentation of Karuk: Eliciting Natural Speech through Conversation

FAIN: FN-50097-11

Crystal R. Richardson
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (McKinleyville, CA 95519)

This project is a multi-faceted undertaking; at its core is the digital field documentation of Karuk, an extremely endangered language dispersed over a large portion of Northern California. The overarching goal is to gather 300 hours of audio and video language documentation with several of the last fluent Karuk Speakers; the P.I. intends to transcribe 5% of the resulting field documentation (totaling 15 hours), and create a polished 20 minute documentary demonstrating the process of eliciting natural speech from community elders. The proposed field recordings would also capture hours of oral history and cultural instruction that will prove of particular significance to Karuk scholars, tribal people and ethnographers of the future. (Edited by staff)