Center for American Indian Languages facts for kids
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 2004 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Map |
| Website | www.cail.utah.edu |
The Center for American Indian Languages (CAIL) was a special group at the University of Utah. It was part of the Linguistics department, which studies languages. CAIL helped Native American communities keep their languages alive. They worked to bring back languages that were almost gone. They also recorded these languages and taught students how to help.
What Was the Center for American Indian Languages?
The Center for American Indian Languages (CAIL) was started in 2004. It was founded by Lyle Campbell, a linguist who studies languages of the Americas. He also studied how languages change over time. The Center was located at the Fort Douglas area of the University of Utah campus.
CAIL had a large library with over 3,000 books and journals. These books were all about languages spoken in North and South America.
Helping the Shoshone Language
One important program at CAIL was for young people. It was called the Shoshone/Goshute Youth Language Apprenticeship Program (SYLAP). This summer program started in 2009. It helped young people learn and use the Shoshoni language.
The program was even featured on a national radio show called Weekend Edition. Young Shoshone people worked as interns. They helped turn old recordings and notes into digital files. These materials came from a collection by Wick R. Miller. Making them digital helped tribal members use them more easily.
Why Did the Center Close?
In August 2012, the University of Utah decided to close the Center for American Indian Languages. The university said it wanted to focus more on languages from Utah's own tribes.
Many experts who work to save languages were surprised by this decision. Linguists, like Ives Goddard from the Smithsonian, were worried. They felt it would harm efforts to protect Native American languages across all of the Americas.
