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Start giftingThe Language Warrior's Manifesto
How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds
Narrator
Kaipo Schwab
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Length
5 hours 42 minutes
Language
English
Across North America, dedicated language warriors are powering an upswell, a resurgence, a revitalization of indigenous languages and cultures. Through deliberate suppression and cultural destruction, the five hundred languages spoken on the continent before contact have dwindled to about 150. Their ongoing survival depends on immediate, energetic interventions.
Anton Treuer has been at the forefront of the battle to revitalize Ojibwe for many years. In this impassioned argument, he discusses the interrelationship between language and culture, the problems of language loss, strategies and tactics for resisting, and the inspiring stories of successful language warriors. He recounts his own sometimes hilarious struggle to learn Ojibwe as an adult, and he depicts the astonishing success of the language program at Lac Courte Oreilles, where a hundred children now speak Ojibwe as their first language.
This is a manifesto, a rumination, and a rallying cry for the preservation of priceless languages and cultures.
Anton Treuer is a professor at Bemidji State University and the award-winning author of many books on Ojibwe history and language. His published works include Warrior Nation: A History of the Red Lake Ojibwe, Ojibwe in Minnesota, The Assassination of Hole in the Day, Atlas of Indian Nations, and Awesiinyensag.
Kaipo Schwab is an actor, director, and producer who has worked at the Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theater, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, GeVa Theater, Pan Asian Rep, and New York Theatre Workshop. In 2004 he directed part of ABC's Cultural Diversity Showcase. His film and television credits include Anesthesia, Fair Game, The Royal Tenenbaums, It Could Happen to You, All My Children, The Protector, Law & Order, New York Undercover, Can Openers, Rescue Me, and Cosby. He can also be seen on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black playing the role of prison medic, Igme Dimaguiba. Audiobook credits include Jimmy Breslin's The Good Rat (2009 Benjamin Franklin Award winner), Walter Dean Myers' We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (2013 Audie nomination) and Marilyn Singer's Full Moon Is Rising. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, he attended the British American Drama Academy and is a graduate of Boston University College of Fine Arts. Kaipo and his wife, Hope, live in New York City with their son, Giovanni, and their one-eyed pug, Wink.
