Rising Voices/Hóthaninpi

FAIN: TR-50491-13

Language Conservancy, Inc. (Bloomington, IN 47404-2008)
Wilhelm Meya (Project Director: January 2013 to present)

Production of a 60-minute documentary, an interactive website, and an open source online discussion platform for use by scholars and the general public exploring the cultural significance of the Lakota language and efforts to save it.

"Rising Voices/Hóthaninpi" is a cross-platform documentary project on Native American languages--how they have shaped our country, how they disappeared and what it means to speak them again. This unheard history draws a different regional map of the U.S. and uncovers a forgotten resource of perspectives on the natural environment, human relationships, politics and spirituality. The project is anchored by a 60-minute film for national broadcast focused on the language revival movement among the Lakota Sioux. Language learners and teachers face conflict within the tribes as they seek the professional skills of white outsiders to recover language fluency. This proposal seeks support for the 2013-2014 production phase of the broadcast film. The full project integrates the film with Lakota music, visual arts, cutting-edge social media and massive open online education, to allow all Native American tribes to talk about losing their languages and bringing them back.