Post by Lux on Feb 26, 2008 18:23:13 GMT 12
Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:38:24 +0000 From: Miriam Ross
<mr@survival-international.org>
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
20 February 2008
An indigenous language dies on average once every two weeks, reports
Survival on International Mother Language Day (21 February).
Five thousand of the world's six thousand languages are indigenous, and the
majority of those threatened with extinction are indigenous languages.
The Akuntsu tribe of northern Brazil, for example, were first contacted by a
Brazilian government team in 1995. They number only six people, who saw the
rest of their tribe massacred in the 1970s and 1980s by ranchers who wanted
their land. Nobody else speaks the Akuntsu language, and it is likely that
it will disappear forever along with the tribe.
There are over a hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide, and their languages
are among the most endangered. Survival believes that many uncontacted
tribes are under serious threat of extinction within the next twenty years.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'Every time another tribe
becomes extinct and their language dies, another way of life and another way
of understanding the world disappears forever. Even if it has been
painstakingly studied and recorded, a language without a people to speak it
means little. A language can only live if its people live, and if today's
uncontacted tribes are to have a future, we must respect their right to
choose their own way of life.'
The UN has proclaimed 2008 'International Year of Languages'.
-ENDS-
<mr@survival-international.org>
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
20 February 2008
An indigenous language dies on average once every two weeks, reports
Survival on International Mother Language Day (21 February).
Five thousand of the world's six thousand languages are indigenous, and the
majority of those threatened with extinction are indigenous languages.
The Akuntsu tribe of northern Brazil, for example, were first contacted by a
Brazilian government team in 1995. They number only six people, who saw the
rest of their tribe massacred in the 1970s and 1980s by ranchers who wanted
their land. Nobody else speaks the Akuntsu language, and it is likely that
it will disappear forever along with the tribe.
There are over a hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide, and their languages
are among the most endangered. Survival believes that many uncontacted
tribes are under serious threat of extinction within the next twenty years.
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, 'Every time another tribe
becomes extinct and their language dies, another way of life and another way
of understanding the world disappears forever. Even if it has been
painstakingly studied and recorded, a language without a people to speak it
means little. A language can only live if its people live, and if today's
uncontacted tribes are to have a future, we must respect their right to
choose their own way of life.'
The UN has proclaimed 2008 'International Year of Languages'.
-ENDS-