11 Things You Can Do on International Mother Language Day
Today, February 21, is International Mother Language Day. It was first proclaimed in 1952 as "Language Movement Day" by Dhaka University students in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) who protested the suppression of their Bengali language. Police and military forces opened fire, killing many young people in attendance.
Cultural Survival supports and promotes place-based, Indigenous-controlled community media and language revitalization efforts aimed at creating new generations of fluent speakers. At least 43 percent of the estimated 7000 languages spoken in the world are endangered, and so many of these languages hold Traditional Knowledge and the solutions for how we care for our environments. We work to address this crisis and partner locally and internationally to reverse Indigenous language loss through our Indigenous Led-Funds, our Indigenous Community Media Program, and our Indigenous Rights Radio Program.
1. Meet Our Grant Partners Working on Language Revitalization Efforts
In 2022, in addition to supporting Indigenous community radio stations through our Indigenous Community Media Fund which broadcast in Indigenous languages, Cultural Survival directly funded several grassroots projects to strengthen, maintain, and revitalize their language through our Keepers of the Earth Fund. Get to know them!
2. Listen to and Share Our Indigenous Rights Radio Programs 
Cultural Survival is producing and distributing radio programs worldwide on topics related to Indigenous rights. With the help of volunteers from all over the world, we have translated programs and recorded audio in over 170 Indigenous languages. Learn more.
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UNDRIP Article 13: Right to Language
Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states: "Indigenous Peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons..."
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Language Revival Initiatives In Asia
Linguists have predicted and also warned that half of all the 7,000 languages currently spoken will go silent by the end of the century. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) a regional umbrella organization of Indigenous Peoples Organization in Asia, following the official launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, starting from 2022 and continuing until 2032, has specifically focused plans for revival, revitalization, and strengthening of Indigenous languages and cultures in Asia.
Rescate del idioma Krenak en Brasil
Lideane, Profesora y segunda Casique de su pueblo, nos cuenta sobre como han ido rescatando el idioma Krenak y de como después de 30 años el idioma Krenak ya se ha empezado hablar en 7 pueblos de su región.
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3. Learn about the Sustainable Development Goals in Ayuuk, K´iche', Afrikaans, and Sunuwar
4. Listen to our series on Indigenous languages in English and Spanish
To commemorate the International Year of Indigenous Languages, in 2019, we produced a whole series on efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages.
On October 5-7, 2021, in light of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages, Cultural Survival hosted a three-day virtual conference that equipped individuals working at the community level with tools and best practices for revitalizing and strengthening Indigenous languages and the Traditional Ecological Knowledge carried within them. Access three days of content.
6. Learn about the Khoe and Ñu languages in South Africa
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Through our Keepers of the Earth Fund, Cultural Survival funded Munanai, an Indigenous grassroots organization based in ||Hui !Gais (original name of Cape Town), South Africa. Denver Breda, a Khoe cultural and language activist and the founder of Munanai, is working hard to ensure Indigenous youth have access to learning Khoekhoegowab, their Indigenous language. |
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Watch Grandmother Katrina Esau speak about the importance of the N/uuki language in South Africa and COVID-19 prevention through Indigenous Rights Radio.
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7. Learn How our Indigenous Youth Fellows are Promoting Indigenous Languages
Luis Enrique Amador Tlatilolpa (Náhuatl) from Mexico is teaching the Nahuatl language at schools as well as creating audiovisual content in Náhuatl revitalizing Náhuatl traditions. Check out Luis' work here.
8. Read Our Cultural Survival Quarterly Issues on Indigenous Language Revitalization
Indigenous language loss is occurring all over the world. Concerned communities are using many methods including community radio as an effective tool in revitalizing their languages.
9. Learn about the International Decade of Indigenous Languages
On December 18, 2019, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
10. Attend the Mother Tongue Film Festival 
The Smithsonian’s Mother Tongue Film Festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity by showcasing films and filmmakers from around the world over four days of free screenings in Washington, D.C. Since 2016, the annual festival has celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. The eighth annual festival will take place February 23–26, 2023.
11. Make a gift today to support Cultural Survival's ongoing work to revitalize Indigenous languages!
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Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience since 1972. We envision a future that respects and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual traditions, and artistic expression, rooted in self-determination and self-governance.
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