Capacity Building for the National Breath of Life Native American Philology Model

FAIN: PE-277022-21

Miami University (Oxford, OH 45056-1846)
Daryl W. Baldwin (Project Director: June 2020 to November 2021)
Kara Strass (Project Director: November 2021 to present)

A continuing education training program in archival methods for community-directed language revitalization that would contribute to capacity-building efforts for access to language archives. Activities include training that combines distance-learning with direct technology support from the National Breath of Life archives team; support for five apprentices; and opportunities to network with other community archivists.

The mission of the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages is to work with Community Archivists from endangered language communities to build capacity around methods in archives-based research for community-directed revitalization efforts. With this mission in mind, the National Breath of Life has developed a model for Native American philology. Since 2011, National Breath of Life has expanded the model to increase the depth and breadth of training for Native American Community Archivists who are responsible for building and maintaining a wide range of language archive activities and research specific to the revitalization of their community languages. As part of this process, National Breath of Life provides state-of-the-art software and best practices to advance their work. The proposed project builds capacity for the National Breath of Life in two strategic areas. First, is the development to provide ongoing technical training and outreach by creating