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The  27th annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium will be held June 14-18, 2021 at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada on the lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples.

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, SILS27 will be taking place fully online in 2021.

SILS27 will be hosted jointly by Queen’s University; Tsi Tyonnheht Onkwawenna Lanaguage and Cultural Centre, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory; and Kingston Indigenous Languages Nest (KILN) a part of the urban Indigenous community of Kingston, ON.

SILS27 will focus on global perspectives of Indigenous Language Revitalization, as reflected in the Symposium title, “Global Indigeneity: Language from the Four Directions.” In addition to bringing together voices from around the globe, this theme is inspired by the four directions teachings for understanding health and community in holistic perspective, encompassing the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. With this in mind, the Program Committee has identified four broad topic areas:
  1. Physical – Technologies and products for language revitalization
  2. Mental – Insights and innovations in revitalization research
  3. Emotional – Community connections for revitalization
  4. Spiritual – Creative arts and language revitalization

For more information about the logistics and format of the conference, we invite you to visit the conference logistics page on our website, or to stop by the Social Rooms and Help Desk space on Zoom, which will be open throughout the conference. All Zoom links are available here on Sched—we ask that you don’t share them with anyone not registered for the conference, but anyone is welcome to register late for the conference, and will get access to Sched within 24 hours of registering. 
Wednesday, June 16 • 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Papa Reo – Enabling a Sovereign Digital Future for Indigenous Languages (Keynote)

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Papa Reo (papareo.nz) is a multilingual language platform grounded in Indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking and powered by cutting edge data science. We will present on the Papa Reo project highlighting the importance of sovereignty over data, platforms, and technologies. We will also cover our latest tools such as a real time, on device te reo Māori pronunciaiton App which aims to decolonise the sound of te reo Māori. Papa Reo is led by Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika (Te Hiku Media), a charitable media organisation, collectively belonging to the Far North iwi of Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto, Te Rārawa and Ngāti Kahu. Te Hiku Media is an iwi communications hub for iwi radio, online TV and media services. Māori language revitalisation is a core focus of Te Hiku Media, and the organizations’ vision and mission was confirmed by a meeting of kaumātua and kuia (elders), and other native speakers of Te Reo Māori at Mahimaru Marae.

Notes from Presentation & Chat:
  • If you're looking to contact Keoni or Peter, you can track them down through https://papareo.nz
  • For an article about their work, you can see https://www.wired.co.uk/article/maori-language-tech
  • From Keoni about building a team: "A clever programmer is sometimes enough to use an open source project like DeepSpeech. The hard part is getting the data, that’s where the cultural knowledge is critical."

Chair
avatar for Thanyehténhas / Nathan Brinklow

Thanyehténhas / Nathan Brinklow

Kanyen'kéha Instructor & Associate Head (Indg Studies), LLCU, Queen's University

Speakers
avatar for Peter Lucas-Jones

Peter Lucas-Jones

Te Hiku Media
KM

Keoni Mahelona

CTO, Te Hiku Media


Wednesday June 16, 2021 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
TBA