THE GARIFUNA HERITAGE FOUNDATION STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE UNESCO Declaration of 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
The Garifuna Heritage Foundation is pleased to support the Declaration by UNESCO of 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The Garifuna Heritage Foundation (TGHF)’s aim to raise awareness about our historical and Cultural background of our ancestors.
One of our main aims for has been to focus on the revitalization of the Garifuna language which was developed on the island of Yurumein (St. Vincent and the Grenadines but which is no longer spoken here.
As stated on UNESCO’s website at https://en.iyil2019.org/ the following is said: “Languages play a crucial role in the daily lives of people, not only as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development, but as a repository for each person’s unique identity, cultural history, traditions and memory.” UNESCO declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages in order to raise awareness, not only to benefit the people who speak these languages but also for others to appreciate the important contributions they make
to our world’s rich cultural diversity.
The UN identifies indigenous peoples’ language rights to include the right: to be educated in their mother tongue;
– to have indigenous languages recognized in constitutions and laws;
– to live free from discrimination on the grounds of language; and
– to establish and have access to media in indigenous languages.
Many Indigenous communities throughout the world, including communities in developed countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States of America have been engaged for years in Language Preservation and Revitalisation efforts and have received the financial and technical support of their Governments to do so. As a result, they have established Indigenous Language Institutes and other programs which document, archive and seek to further develop the various Indigenous Languages which are still spoken or which are in danger of becoming extinct.
What is clear is that it is still possible for an indigenous Language which is no longer spoken to be revitalized once the technical and financial resources are made available to do so within the country and once the political will exists to do so. It is possible to provide training for Teachers to learn how to teach Indigenous language as a second language to persons who have no experience at all.
Other possibilities include the development of Language Apps and other technological aids for training and Language revitalization.
In 2019 and beyond TGHF plans to create and collaborate with Universities, Garinagu groups and other organizations to implement its Language Revitalization and Preservation project in Yurumein (St. Vincent and the Grenadines). This project will entail practical and online classes and workshops of the Garifuna Language as well as the development of training materials.
The Foundation will work with the general public but will focus especially on Communities in St. Vincent where the Kalinago and Garifuna Indigenous peoples have lived and settled following the forced exile by the British colonisers of the Garifuna people to Central America in 1797.
It is hoped that our long term goal to have the language be widely studied as part the Primary School’s curriculum will one day be realized. We hope to generate as much interest and support from the private sector, government and non- governmental organizations in this cause to revitalise our language in SVG.
