What happens if we do nothing?

Short Answer #

Every community’s situation is different, but delaying language preservation and revitalization efforts can increase the risk that valuable language knowledge becomes more difficult to recover in the future.

Expanded Answer #

Language revitalization is often discussed in terms of opportunity. It is also important to discuss risk. Many Indigenous communities possess language knowledge that exists primarily within:

• Elders
• Fluent speakers
• Historical recordings
• Community memory
• Unpublished resources

When this knowledge is not documented, organized, or shared, future generations may have fewer opportunities to access it. The challenge is not simply language loss. The challenge is opportunity loss. A recording not preserved today may not be available tomorrow. A story not documented today may become harder to recover. A word not recorded today may eventually disappear from regular use. The purpose of language revitalization is not to create fear. It is to create opportunities while opportunities still exist. Every step taken today increases options for future generations.