Our Mother Tongues Blog

They Helped the Pilgrims—And Regretted It. How the Wampanoag Brought Their Language Back.

October 16, 2014 - 5:53 PM | by Our Mother Tongues

By Gretchen McCulloch — Watch the video below — Read the complete SLATE article here

We Still Live Here - Âs Nutayuneân is an inspiring documentary about the revival of the Wampanoag language in Southeastern Massachusetts. To quote the film description: "Their ancestors ensured the survival of the Pilgrims—and lived to regret it. Now they are bringing their language home again." 

The story centers around Jessie Little Doe Baird, a Wampanoag tribal member who's been working since 1994 on reviving the language, working with both community members and MIT linguists to figure out how to speak the language again based on written records. In addition to a number of adult learners, there are also currently the first generation of children speaking Wampanoag again in seven generations. 

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