Video: The struggle for indigenous languages ​​destigmatize

This entry is part of our special coverage of Indigenous Rights .

The series of videos from Al Jazeera Living the Language [en] (Living Language) brings us stories of activists and indigenous communities around the world fighting against the stigmatization of indigenous languages ​​and propose solutions in order to gain ground for the same .

In Bolivia , [in] most of the population is Aymara or Quechua, but due to colonization, culture and Spanish language have been formalized and generalized. In recent years have intensified initiatives to eliminate prejudice in the minds of many Bolivian Aymara is talking to ignorant people and some low-life. Efforts are prior to the election of Evo Morales, the first president of Aymara origin regaining indigenous issues to the political agenda.

Examples include cultural events which are rappers and hip-hop artists who sing in Aymara, Aymara education schools that teach the language and also the Aymara culture as well as activism. Their goal: to place more emphasis on indigenous languages ​​and to encourage urban youth, who may feel embarrassed to speak indigenous languages, to become proud ambassadors of their culture and language.

The history of the Maya people in Guatemala [en] is similar to that of the Aymara: the times of conquest, slavery and colonization ended up relegating the Maya to be foreigners in their own territory.

The fields of education, politics and media belong exclusively to the Spanish language while from the major advertising media across the country, smiling white faces and messages in Spanish belittle the people of Guatemala.

"Our language and our culture are not taken into account [in the public way]," says Saq 'chen Roberto Montejo. "This is just a form of visibilizarnos."

Mayan communities speak over 20 different languages ​​- each of which is recognized in theory, but little effort to promote them really occur in practice.

In New Zealand , [in] the efforts to revitalize the Maori language began 30 years ago. The following video reviews the efforts of activists and linguists who found a way to recover not only the language but also the Maori culture through Language Nests (Nests of Language) where very young children with their parents, learn from the elderly their community. The first students of these nests and schools and immersion programs are Maori and adults, many of which are not limited to solamnente use the Maori language in their work and their daily lives, but also transmit to their children traditional values in their own homes as they do through the Nest. Then, the promotional video of the episode can be found at the site of Al Jazeera . [In]

Other episodes of this series Canada: Ktunaxa , [in] Australia: Aboriginal people [in] and episodes of more general character The endangered language [in] and Through the waves . [In]

This entry is part of our special coverage of Indigenous Rights .

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Translated by A. Condori · View original post [en] · Comments (0)
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