During the second week of March, four members of the ELP team - Language Revitalization Mentors Yulha Lhawa, Yazmín Novelo, and Alexandra Philbin, and Executive Director Anna Belew - had the honor and privilege of attending the 9th International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC 9) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
ELP kicked off ICLDC 9 by hosting the pre-conference event: a special in-person screening of digital stories by language champions around the world. These deeply personal short films shared the real-life experiences of people working to revitalize and reclaim their languages, and highlighted the voices of 12 language champions from 11 countries. We thank everyone who attended, showed their appreciation to the storytellers, and shared how profoundly moved they were by these stories.
ELP also hosted a booth in the main conference hall and a "video postcard room" with a professional videographer, where conference attendees could film greetings to folks back home, share about what they'd learned and connections they'd made at ICLDC, and send good wishes to other communities around the world. Find the video postcards on the ICLDC YouTube channel!
The ELP team also presented a poster on (re)envisioning and crafting futures for Indigenous languages. The poster invited viewers to dream ambitious futures for their languages and communities, and consider the paths that would lead to those futures. We had the chance to talk with so many amazing language champions, to share our visions, aspirations, and challenges, and to make a space to change the fatalistic narratives that dominate so much conversation around language endangerment.
Amid all the activity, most importantly, the ELP team had the opportunity to connect with old and new friends and colleagues, grow their networks of language champions from all over the world, and learn from people doing amazing and innovative work in language revitalization, documentation, and advocacy. The relationships that emerged and deepened from this time in Honolulu will continue to guide and grow our work.
We extend our profound gratitude to the organizers and volunteers who made ICLDC possible, to everyone who shared their time and knowledge at the conference, to the Hawaiian people for permitting us to visit and learn as guests on their land, and to the lands and waters of Oʻahu.
Each member of the ELP team who attended has shared their reflections on the conference, in their own words:
Yulha Lhawa:
"ICLDC was a week of reconnecting, learning, and soaking in the energy of a community that truly gets it. Meeting my colleagues Yazmin and Alex in person after years of working together was surreal—we’ve spent so much time on screens, but finally sharing meals, laughing, and interacting face-to-face made everything feel more real. One of the most special moments was the ELP reunion at a beautiful home in the mountains, where we heard the story of how ELP started, a reminder of how a small seed, nurtured with care and love, can grow into something impactful. The conference itself was packed with deep conversations, unexpected reunions, and exciting opportunities, including an invitation from a professor at Boise State University to share my work on language documentation and revitalization. And of course, there were all the little moments: hiking, late-night spam musubi, and a lovely afternoon at Anna’s favorite beach before the conference, all adding to an experience that felt nothing short of magical."
Alexandra Philbin:
"‘Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’. This Irish proverb means that it is by being connected with other people that we live. It comes to mind as I think back to the wonderful time I had at ICLDC on Oʻahu. I was able to see old friends, some of whom I had only seen online (including my ELP colleagues!), and meet new ones. I took part in many wonderful conversations - at presentations and posters, at the ELP conference stand and video postcard room and over meals and walks around Honolulu. Central to all of these conversations was a deep commitment to language diversity, to language revitalisation, to the wellbeing of people and communities.
Coming together to share our work, our ideas, our stories was really amazing, and it was very special to be able to do it in Hawaiʻi; a place with such an inspiring reclamation movement. The focus of the conference was on diaspora communities, and the kinds of conversations and ideas that this sparked are really needed right now. The conference was a good reminder of ‘ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’, of the importance of connecting with people, of living and working in community and in solidarity with people."
Yazmín Novelo:
"It was my first time attending the conference, and I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised by the nature of the event, which deviated significantly from the academic format in which professors present their thoughts on our languages. Instead, the attendees were practitioners, members of their communities, and the talks related to the realities and experiences directly lived by their speakers. I believe that linguistic revitalization is in our hands, and what I saw gave me great hope.
Many of the talks I heard had something in common: whether they were communities in the diaspora or in their territories: language is no longer seen as a separate element requiring intervention, like a limb undergoing surgery. From experiences with technology to the implementation of school programs, the common denominator was strengthening the language to strengthen ourselves as people. This is summed up in the experience of the Cherokee people, who concluded their presentation on language immersion by saying, "It's not just about creating Cherokee speakers, it's about growing Cherokee." This thought remains in my head, thank you ICLDC 2025, see you in two years."
Anna Belew:
"Attending ICLDC always feels like returning home. Not only to the island I called my home for a few years as a PhD student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, but to the broader community of people working in language documentation and revitalization.
ICLDC has been a bright thread woven through all my language work. My first ICLDC, in 2013, was the first time I ever visited Honolulu - besides being bowled over by the power and beauty of Oʻahu, the conference and the people I met there cemented my choice to do my PhD at UHM. I served on the student organizing committee for ICLDC in 2015 and 2017, getting incredible firsthand education in how conferences are run from start to finish. And I've attended every subsequent ICLDC. The energy is always beautiful - hundreds of people who share a vision for a world of thriving languages and communities, coming together to learn and support each other. It genuinely feels like a very large family, in many ways.
But this ICLDC was particularly special. After ICLDC moved online in 2021 and 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was many people's first time physically seeing their ICLDC "family" in years. The sense of joy and gratitude at being together again was palpable. For me, everywhere I turned, I saw familiar and beloved faces - some of friends, colleagues, and mentors I hadn't seen in years, and some of people I'd only ever known online, including my longtime ELP colleagues Yazmín and Alex!
I learned so much, as I always do at ICLDC. Brilliant ideas, deep knowledge, unwavering conviction, tears and laughter were present throughout the sessions. But there was also a tangible sense of relief and rest in being together in this moment. The relief and nourishment of being among kind and courageous and smart people who believe in a world of diversity, of Indigenous resurgence, of respectful and reciprocal relations among our human and other-than-human communities. There were hard discussions about the future of our field in these dark and uncertain times. But we were together. And we will keep working together to sustain and nourish languages and communities. A hui hou - until we're together again."
Would you like to help support ELP's work to strengthen language revitalization in this critical moment? We welcome you to make a tax-deductible donation.