Daryl Baldwin facts for kids

Daryl Baldwin is an American expert in languages. He is a linguist who works to bring back the Myaamia language. This language belongs to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and Daryl Baldwin is a member of this tribe. He also helps advise the Miami Tribe on cultural resources.

Who is Daryl Baldwin?

Daryl Baldwin is the director of the Myaamia Center. This center is located at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The Myaamia Center helps to save and bring back languages that are in danger of disappearing.

His strong dedication to this work led to the creation of the Myaamia Center. He was chosen to lead it. In 2016, he received a special award called a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. This award is given to very talented people who do important work. Baldwin wants to help communities bring their languages and cultures back to life.

His Journey to Language Work

Daryl Baldwin became very interested in learning his own language, Myaamia. He read a paper about the Miami-Illinois language. He realized he needed to study linguistics to truly understand it and teach it to others.

This led him to get advanced degrees from the University of Montana. He earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Native American linguistics. Since 1996, Baldwin has been teaching himself and his four children the Miami language. He also learned a lot from old records kept at the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives.

Bringing the Myaamia Language Back

Daryl Baldwin works with Myaamia people to create learning materials. These materials help teach the language and culture to the community. He has taught his four children to speak Myaamia as their native language. He continues to teach others as an assistant professor.

Much of Baldwin's work involves working with other experts. He has written for books and journals with other linguists. He also works with projects like the National Breath of Life. This project helps linguists find and use old language records.