Preserving Indigenous Languages

Marilyn O'MalleyBhutan, Indigenous People, Monpas, Newsletter, TTF FundraiserLeave a Comment

               
Exploring Monpa Land by Roberta Marroquín
There are approximately 3,000 Indigenous languages at risk of extinction by the end of this century. When the Tribal Trust Foundation first met with the Monpa, the First Peoples of Bhutan, ten years ago, they asked us for help to preserve their language and culture before it disappeared forever. To safeguard the Indigenous Monpa’s language, an orthography (writing system) of their ancient language, Mönkha is now being created.
Tribal Trust Monpa Language Initiative
By working in collaboration with the Language Conservancy Organization and Gwendolyn Hyslop, the Senior Lecturer of Linguistics at the University of Sydney, an alphabet and dictionary of the ancient oral language, Mönkha, is now being created. As Dr. Hyslop has recognized, “Black Mountain Mönpa is a fascinating language. It appears to retain very conservative verbal morphology and other interesting features that suggests it is has been isolated from its related languages over a long period of time. It is one of the most interesting languages in the entire Sino-Tibetan/Trans-Himalayan and from a linguistic perspective it is very important we study it.”
Language Conservancy Organization
In deep gratitude to our generous donors, the Tribal Trust Foundation is returning to Monpaland in April to support the Monpa language project by meeting with our partners and placing an order for literacy materials of the Mönkha alphabet. By saving this language, we are helping the Monpa People protect their culture, way of life, unique world view, and biodiversity. In addition, we can learn much more about the region’s Indigenous plants once the knowledge of their community’s natural healer Ap Tawla can be put in writing. Click here to explore “Monpa Medicinal Plants: Indigenous Knowledge from a Himalayan Healer”, written by TTF’s Director of International Education & Research, Dawn A. Murray, with source information from Ap Tawla.
Dr. Dawn Murray, TTF Director of International Education & Research & Monpa Healer Ap Tawla
We are looking to raise $5,000 to fund the educational materials. Please join us to help save this endangered language!
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With gratitude,

Barbara


Barbara Savage
Founder & Executive Director
Tribal Trust Foundation
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The Tribal Trust Foundation is located in the unceded homelands of the Chumash People and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. By recognizing these communities, we attempt to honor their legacies, their lives, and descendants. To learn more about the Indigenous People’s land on which your home or work sits, visit: native-land.ca

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