Root Tongue: Sharing Stories of Language Identity and Revival (UC Santa Cruz)

Root Tongue is an online platform for audience engagement motivated by the stories and issues
raised in Tongues of Heaven, a feature documentary about four young, indigenous women who use personal video cameras to document the challenges of learning their ancestral languages before they go extinct. Their experiences prompt a larger conversation about linguicide and revitalization in Root Tongue, a forum that allows participants to share their perspectives through dialogue as well as uploads of photos, music, writings, and short videos. Users will also be able to access educational and community resources on language preservation. Indigenous people and minority language learners have a keen awareness of the demands and flux of their own communities in the context of other global societies. Root Tongue aims to continually illuminate their visions as they heal, energize, and rethink the personal and local.