Reclaiming Our Languages

Annotated Bibliography

Reclaiming our languages Annotated BibliographyDownload

Here you will find the 50 articles that explicitly engage with Indigenous people learning their heritage language. This scholarship is highlighted especially for community language educators hoping to learn more about other language revitalization projects, their successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
Please use the menu to find specific types of projects. Articles are sortable by the following categories: UNESCO language rating, geographic region, age of intended learner, and program oversight. The UNESCO World Atlas of Languages ranks languages as unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered, and extinct/not in use. We recognize that this type of scale focuses entirely on language loss and homogenizes processes of colonial erasure and suppression. We chose to include this filter as it is often discussed in the literature and we encourage everyone to critically consider the interactions between revitalization efforts and “loss-” or “death-” based discourse. Articles represent literature pertaining to the following geographic areas: North America, South America, Nordic, Pacific. One of the requirements for our review is that programs operate in a colonial context similar to that of Canada. Thus, we do not include articles from areas including the African continent and Indian sub-continent. Articles may also be sorted based on whether the learners they describe are adults, children, families, or any combination of those. Finally, you may sort articles based on three different types of programs: tribal schools, public schools, and other. Tribal schools include programs in tribally-run and controlled schools from kindergarten through Tribal Community Colleges and postsecondary institutions. Public schools include projects in state-sponsored, publicly-available schools from kindergarten through post-secondary education. The “other” category tends to include programs such as language camps, language workshops, online and computer-based learning. Multiple filters may be selected at one time to provide narrower results.

These articles only represent a small fraction of all the articles we reviewed. Articles that are not included focus on language documentation, cultural revitalization, narratives of language loss, hypothetical discussions of revitalization theory, settler perspectives on historical language work, or do not acknowledge Indigenous learner perspectives.

“teepaalilaani” © Hannah Buchanan 2025

  • Skwomesh Language Revitalized By First Nation Youth Through DIY Immersion.

    This CBC article describes a Language House created by three First Nation youth, their goals and hopes for the future, as well as how they are carving out their own Sk̲wk̲ x̱wx̱ ú7mesh sníchim immersion space. McCue reports on the urgency, resiliency, and hope involved in Indigenous language revitalization efforts.

    McCue, D. (2015, February 4). Skwomesh language revitalized by First Nation youth through DIY immersion. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/skwomesh-language-revitalized-by-first-nation-youth-through-diy-immersion-1.2940513

  • Visibility, Healing and Resistance: Voices from the 2005 Dena’ina Language Institute.

    Bell and Marlow explore the tensions between funding goals, community goals, and learner/participant goals in Indigneous language projects, especially in consideration of how the Dena’ina Language Institute’s programming can better align with community needs. They consider how a program can be considered a success by its participants and a failure by its funders and note that informal teachings seem to be the most memorable aspects of programming for participants. They discuss core participant goals and outcomes, including fluency, community, culture, literacy, resistance, and healing/visibility.

    Bell, L., & Marlow, P. E. (2009). Visibility, healing and resistance: Voices from the 2005 Dena’ina Language Institute. Journal of American Indian Education, 48(1), 1–18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24398747

  • Creating Space and Defining Roles: Elders and Adult Yup’ik Immersion.

    Alexie et al. investigate how incorporating Elders into the Yup’ik Language Proficiency Program facilitates year-round, sustained learning and carves out a space for Yup’ik cultural norms within the university environment. They describe the nuances of working with Elders in a university space including relationship navigating and managing dual agendas of language revitalization and intergenerational cultural knowledge transmission. They consider the myriad of ways that including Elders in language programming can add depth, sustainability, and significance to language acquisition.

    Alexie, O., Alexie, S., & Marlow, P. (2009). Creating space and defining roles: Elders and adult Yup’ik immersion. Journal of American Indian Education, 48(3), 1–18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24398752

  • Turning a Corner in Language Revitalization: Sitting Bull College’s Lakota Language Capacity Building Initiative.

    Hauff et al. describe the community impacts, creation, successes, and lessons learned through Sitting Bull College’s language revitalization program: Lakota Language Capacity Building Initiative. They hope to share what they have learned in their revitalization work with other Indigenous communities who wish to implement similar programs. They explain how including elder speakers can facilitate the re-creation of a speech community, and how various assessments, especially videos, can be used to help student self-awareness as well as program evaluation. They also call for increased scholarship about the successes and failures of other language revitalization projects, and note the need for sustainable, long-term funding.

    Hauff, T., Walker, N., & Bannister, E. (2024). Turning a corner in language revitalization: Sitting Bull College’s Lakota language capacity building initiative. Tribal College, 35(3), 60–64. https://tribalcollegejournal.org/turning-a-corner-in-language-revitalization-sitting-bull-colleges-lakota-language-capacity-building-initiative/

  • Anishinaabemowin pane: A Qualitative Exploratory Case Study of an Indigenous Language Immersion Revitalization Program

    Gordon explores the nuanced relationship between adult Indigenous language immersion curriculum goals and outcomes, and learner goals and objectives. In his dissertation, he considers adult learning theories, immersion models of reclamation, program evaluation, and curriculum development. He finds that learners in an Anishinaabemowin adult Indigenous immersion language program at a tribal community college attend the program to restart intergenerational language transmission, become fluent speakers, increase their sense of identity, and to heal. He also finds a misalignment between program goals and learner goals, and advocates for increased attention to learner motivations during curriculum development. He calls for the integration of high-quality assessment in adult immersion programs.

    Gordon, C. J. (2009). Anishinaabemowin pane: A qualitative exploratory case study of an indigenous language immersion revitalization program. (Publication No. 3360094) [Doctoral Dissertation, Capella University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/publiccontent/dissertations-theses/anishinaabemowin-pane-qualitative-exploratory/docview/305164171/sem-2?accountid=14789

  • Designing Indigenous Language Revitalization

    Hermes et al. explore how the creation of the Ojibwemodaa! language learning software became a process of language learning and sharing in it of itself, with community members building relationships and mobilizing to reclaim the liveliness of their language. They also discuss Ojibwe movie-making workshops, and how they contribute to an Ojibwe language strategy. They theorize about Indigenous knowledge production, materials creation, immersion schooling, ceremonial and relational epistimology, relationality, and reciprocity.

    Hermes, M., Bang, M., & Marin, A. (2012). Designing Indigenous language revitalization. Harvard Educational Review, 82(3), 381–402. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.3.q8117w861241871j

  • Breathing Life into New Speakers: Nsyilxcn and Tlingit Sequenced Curriculum, Direct Acquisition, and Assessments

    Johnson addresses the publishing gap between community language education and the field of Indigenous language revitalization by sharing a path to proficiency involving consistent assessment, sequenced curriculum, and anecdotal reporting. They discuss how to create and then use a sequenced curriculum to allow learners to achieve concrete skill progression and create an immersion environment. They also discuss developing modes of assessment for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners, especially relating to the use of film/video.

    Johnson, S. M. K. (2017a). Breathing life into new speakers: Nsyilxcn and Tlingit sequenced curriculum, direct acquisition, and assessments. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(2), 109–132. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.3549

  • Creating Books for Use in Language Revitalization Classrooms: Considerations and Outcomes

    Nee considers the development, implementation, and consequences of using three different types of storybooks in a Teotitlan del Valle Zapotec language camp for 5-12 year-olds. She demonstrates how the collaborative creation of a storybook by students creates a culturally relevant teaching aid and inspires students to engage with the language on their own. She also models how to pair classroom instruction and supported interactions with community members in public spaces.

    Nee, J. (2020). Creating books for use in language revitalization classrooms: Considerations and outcomes. L2 Journal, 12(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.5070/L20042838

  • Learning through an Aboriginal Language: The Impact on Students’ English and Aboriginal Language Skills

    Usborne et al. explore how learning through an Indigenous language impacts student language skills in English and in the Indigenous language, by contrasting a Mi’kmaq immersion program with a Mi’kmaq as a second language program in a Nova Scotian public school. They provide an example of how community-anchored assessment-based longitudinal research can serve the language needs of an Indigenous community and they find that Indigenous immersion language programs can actually correlate to higher language skill development in both the Indigenous language and English.

    Usborne, E., Peck, J., Smith, D.-L., & Taylor, D. M. (2011). Learning through an Aboriginal language: The impact on students’ English and Aboriginal language skills. Canadian Journal of Education, 34(4), 200-215. https://www.jstor.org/stable/canajeducrevucan.34.4.200

  • Language Revitalization and the Classroom: Video Workshops at an Elementary School in Miyakojima

    Fujita-Round studies Miyakoan language revitalization in public elementary schools in Japan. She explores which teaching methods are most effective and how school children feel about learning their ancestral language. She describes an arts-based word activity where students work in groups to create movies. She reinforces the necessity of the classroom as a safe and comfortable space, highlighting that group work and instructor support are more useful than criticism.

    Fujita-Round, S. (2023). Language revitalization and the classroom: Video workshops at an elementary school in Miyakojima. Languages, 8(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8010004