The ILPP is dedicated to supporting local tribes in the preservation and promotion of their native languages by helping them to take advantage of the resources of the University of Wisconsin. We are a project of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures (CSUMC), based at UW-Madison.

Languages all over the world are in severe danger of extinction. Experts estimate that of the approximately 6,000 languages that exist today, anywhere from 50-80% will die out during the present century. All of the American Indian languages spoken in the state of Wisconsin today are endangered, with numbers of speakers per language ranging from two or three to approximately 250. None of these languages are consistently being learned by children, which is a warning sign of eventual language death. However, all of the tribes are working to reverse this trend, and the ILPP is dedicated to supporting their efforts in every way possible.

The ILPP's goal is to make connections between tribal language programs and resources at UW-Madison and other UW campuses. Examples of such connections might include finding students who could create language teaching videos as a class project, others who would be willing to do work on native language grammars and dictionaries in return for research opportunities, etc. We also have facilities for the transfer of tapes to CD, and with appropriate funding will be able to help tribes preserve their language tapes (cassette and reel-to-reel). We will also eventually be able to help with enhancement of audio materials, such as filtering out noise from old recordings.

We are also working on setting up a resource center where we will archive materials on the languages of the region. The result will enable Native American students and others to work with these materials, whether to learn their heritage language or do research on the languages of Wisconsin, and will promote awareness of the potential for language extinction and the need for action to prevent this.

The ILPP also sponsors indigenous language conferences on topics such as language preservation activities, linguistic analysis, funding opportunities, and state and federal legislation. The first ILPP-sponsored conference was held June 19-22, 2002 at the College of the Menominee Nation, and we plan to sponsor others in the future.

For further information, please contact:
Monica Macaulay mmacaula@wisc.edu

Others involved in ILPP:
J. Randolph Valentine jrvalent@wisc.edu
Ada E. Deer (Director, American Indian Studies Program) aisp@aisp.wisc.edu