Reconnecting to Kaingang Podcast

Speaking in Tongues

3. What is the value of preserving indigenous languages? 

Languages are extremely important within our world and it provides us with a way of communication. each language has a tradition, culture, beliefs and a story behind them. It is a brutal and fatal concept that once collapsed may bring an entire culture and history down with it. Indigenous languages are vital and each language perceives things in our world in a different way. In fact, every language has its own way of describing and addressing certain issues and concepts in our societies. For example, Aboriginal languages were pretty special and distinctive for the rich vocabularies they utilise to describe nature. The evocative imagery the language contains expresses the love an how close the Aboriginal clans are linked to the land. Furthermore aboriginal languages are one of many examples of why perceiving indigenous languages are valuable and important to us. These languages see the world and speak differently than we do, therefore translation is not sufficient enough to convey all the passion and the meaning behind certain things. Indigenous languages have a different way of expression and they have a deeper understanding of the world and of nature than the civilians who live in the city do. Indigenous people have been in the surface of this Earth long before the colonies arrived and started treating their people and their language, which establishes a closer contact with life. In conclusion, I believe that every single language should be valued to the maximum because people perceive and communicate things differently. In addition, every language has extensive and diverse vocabularies used to description which is distinctive and unique. By preserving indigenous languages, our understanding and expression can be more extensive and we can understand life more thoroughly.