Happy New Year

2020 was challenging for us all as we mourned the loss of family members and many language legacies who were influential in their communities and who had for decades been advocates of revitalizing their native languages. Nevertheless, our incredible network of native speakers, educators, and avid learners continues to work over virtual platforms, striving to keep their communities safe. As we step into this new year, we’re fostering a positive outlook for 2021. This year, we're collaborating with our Indigenous partners in USA, Canada, Australia and Mexico on more picture/textbooks, developing language learning apps for speakers of all fluency levels to increase their language skills, and coordinating to host online seminars and language functions. Make sure to follow our Facebook page to stay up to date on upcoming products and events. We are very grateful for your support in language revitalization and wish you a happy and healthy new year.

Cowlitz Coast Salish Language Project

In collaboration with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Cowlitz Coast Salish Alphabet Coloring Book is completed and will be distributed into the community this month! The Alphabet Book includes coloring, activity, and writing pages designed to help young learners familiarize themselves with the Cowlitz alphabet. In addition, the Vocab Builder app will also be available in the app store this month for users to learn and practice new vocabulary every day. In the works is a dictionary database containing over 3,300 entries which will be used as the foundation for an online dictionary and dictionary app next year. Entries in this digital database were expanded from Dale Kinkade's 2004 Cowlitz Dictionary and Grammatical Sketch. We're very excited to be partnering with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to develop these resources and promote language learning within the community.

Stoney Langage Project

In partnership with the Stoney Education Authority, new picture books are being made available soon! 500 copies each of The Buffalo and the Boat, What Are They Doing, and I Saw a Skunk picture books, as well as a Level 1 Textbook and a Stoney Alphabet Coloring Book, will be distributed to young readers and members in the community at the beginning of the year. In addition a pre- and post-assessment test will be available for teachers to assess their students' language skills. Lastly, a complete dictionary database containing over 14,000 entries collected during the 2019 Rapid Word Collection and Re-Record Collection is serving as the foundation to develop a dictionary app and online dictionary—a big project for the year ahead! The Stoney Language Project has been a huge success and we're excited to continue our collaborative development of more language learning materials and resources including flashcards, books, and digital applications.

Water is Everywhere

New picture books are underway! This month, we're working on the Lakota and Crow version of Water is Everywhere which will be the first book in a four book beginner science series. These colorful images illustrated by Marty Two Bulls teach children about water, describe different bodies of water, and depict the many ways we use it in our daily lives. Be the first to know when this book is available in the TLC bookstore by checking our Facebook page.

Thank You

We are very grateful for the daily support of individuals like you and foundations' financial contributions that continue to aid in efforts for language revitalization in the communities we partner with. Thank you to the countless individuals who donated this past year and to everyone who participated in 2020's fall fundraiser, Autumn Gala, and Giving Tuesday! With your help, these donation drives were a great success. We hope to continue to have your participation and support coming into this new year.

Upcoming Events

February 13-14 Virtual Lakota Language Weekend - New York

Join the Lakota Language Consortium February 13-14 for the first Virtual Lakota Language Weekend of 2021 sponsored by the New York Community Trust. Increase your Lakota speaking skills in this two day intensive Lakota learning event. This language weekend is geared toward beginner and intermediate learners. Register for the Virtual Lakota Language Weekend by clicking here.

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