Language touches every aspect of our lives. We use it to communicate our most abstract observations on the nature of reality, but also as a tool for navigating the practical concerns of the everyday. Just as individual cultures and communities around the world are distinct from one another, the languages they speak are reflections of their unique history, connection with the land and waters, and traditional ways of being. Indigenous languages in every part of the world are therefore repositories of vast knowledge which cannot or should not be translated into dominant global languages. The fact that the most linguistically diverse regions on the planet are also the most biologically diverse is a striking correlation. Because of this, when a language is endangered, it can mean the disappearance of so much more than simply a way of speaking; millennia of accumulated wisdom, stories, techniques, traditions, and ultimately a singular worldview, would vanish with it.

As a queer Indigenous person, I sense that authentic, equitable language revitalization must be rooted in intersectionality. A significant number of contemporary communities speaking endangered languages have survived trauma, displacement, and injustice – experiences which continue today. The work of revitalization therefore comprises a diversity of topics – social justice, land reclamation, holistic and intergenerational healing, ecological restoration, decolonialism; to name only a few. Below I have compiled a list of ten online resources which highlight the intersectional nature of language revitalization work, and the extent to which it cannot be separated from other forms of activism and reclamation:
 

Tunun Kayutukun: Words Have Power

This article presents the idea that words have an inherent power, that languages are "infused with the spirit" of the places where they developed. It explores how English-language terms can often erase the subtlety of Indigenous knowledge, while presenting words in Unangam Tunuu which illustrate the comprehensive worldview of its speakers.
 

A Radical Re-settlement: Walking the Talk on Indigeneity - A Blade of Grass

In revitalizing the Maskoke language, its community felt that the process would never be truly authentic if they must coin neologisms or use English loanwords to describe settler-colonial concepts foreign to their traditional way of life. The Ekvn-Yefolecv Muskoke Ecovillage was founded, that the Muskoke might engage in their cultural practices on their ancestral lands, as "full-time Indigenous People". This article beautifully illustrates how completely language interweaves with lifestyle, and the comprehensive community learning and transformation often required by the process of revitalization.

Afro-Indigeneity in Latin America: Conversations of Diasporic Blackness, Allyship, & Advocacy | Panoramas

Colonialism is a global phenomenon, the victims of whose injustices tell stories that are rife with harrowing parallels. In the work of reclamation and revitalization, it is essential to expose oneself to a diversity of perspectives, and to stand in solidarity with fellow activists and communities the world over. Here the Garifuna and Miskito peoples of South America are shown to exemplify the unity of language identity with land stewardship, economic viability, and social justice, all within the broader historical context of colonization, slavery, and resistance of the same.

The Meaning of Earth, Land From the Indigenous Cosmovision | EntreMundos

This article, which does not explicitly mention language, nonetheless describes how one's relationship with the earth is central to Indigenous identities everywhere; the view that all that we have and are, is inseparable from this natural source. Indigenous people have lived as one with their respective biomes for tens of thousands of years, becoming exquisitely familiar with their local ecology, its character and needs, in doing so. This is a call to action, to reclaim and protect all aspects of what remains, before it is gone forever.

Language extinction triggers loss of unique medicinal knowledge

This article sums up the findings of a recent study which presents startling data on the degree to which the survival of unique ecological and medicinal knowledge is connected to that of endangered Indigenous languages around the world.

Tének: Images of a Language and its Culture | Spanish & Portuguese Studies

In the wake of a recent webinar event, this article offers a summary of José Coronado's talk on the subject of how the language of the Tének people is a reflection of their history, including their resistance of colonialism in modern times. He touches on the Tének cosmovision, giving the example of a myth which illuminates the significance of salt to their people. Stories are essential to the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge, narratives whose full meaning and nuance can only be appreciated in the language of their tradition.

Diversifying science : recognizing indigenous knowledge systems as scientific worldviews

As Indigenous languages become increasingly well documented and available to outsiders, there emerges a risk of cultural knowledge being harmfully appropriated. This dissertation explores how Indigenous ways of knowing have developed scientific rigour independent of Western influence. Through oral traditions and relational accountability, knowledge has been uncovered and refined by these peoples since time immemorial, resulting in languages and worldviews that are rich in wisdom and veracity. But the faithful translation of these knowledge bases to a broader global audience may prove delicate.

Kahuli: Uncovering indigenous ecological knowledge to conserve endangered Hawaiian land snails

As a concrete example touching on the content of the previous dissertation, here is an account of how Indigenous ecological knowledge, transmitted intergenerationally via language and storytelling traditions, may be essential to saving the Hawaiian land snail from extinction. With the unprecedented decline of biodiversity on a global scale, such Indigenous wisdom may prove instrumental in the prevention of ecological catastrophe.

“The Silenced Language,” by Liliana Ancalao | World Literature Today

Here the story of the Mapuzungun language is expressed in evocative terms, from when it thrived before the arrival of European colonizers, through the systematic attempts at its erasure, and finally into the dawn of its reclamation in which the author participates. Many parallels may be drawn between what is written here and Indigenous perspectives elsewhere. This is a moving account of how reclaiming one's language can be the ultimate assertion of identity and heritage, an act of defiance in the face of generations of oppression.

A Language, Liberated

I will conclude with another example of how successful language revitalization projects have been directly linked to a return to the land and increasingly self-determined modes of being. Thanks to the efforts of Nitana Hicks Greender and her mentor jessie little doe baird, a Wôpanâak medium school has been established on tribal lands. While the community still face many challenges, their story is one of hope for Indigenous people and speakers of endangered languages everywhere.