Our ongoing projects
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Indigenous Hands and Voices Literacy Festival (IHAVLiFest)
This is an annual festival that harnesses STEM literacy through indigenous knowledge. In line with several existing studies, we believe that scientific knowledge is a product of indigenous knowledge, and the knowledge of science and technology becomes holistic when it is traceable to its cultural base as the first indigenous knowledge before it is harnessed into scientific knowledge. This, by extension, enriches the indigenous (signed and spoken) languages with new vocabulary and expressions. Our first IHAVLiFest is planned to take place in 2024 in the state of New Mexico.
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Indigenous Spoken Language Documentation Project (ISLDP2)
Just like we have the Indigenous Sign Language Documentation Project as our core project 1 under S-DELI-IH, IHAV brings the Indigenous Spoken Language Documentation Project as our core project 2. We will partner with linguistic communities of different minority and endangered languages to document their language.
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The Igbo Literacy Project
Although the Igbo language is not endangered, nor is it a minority language, UNESCO’s 2006 prediction of possible Igbo extinction in the year 2050 has shown a spotlight on the language, leading to different actions and reactions by the speakers and scholars of the language towards strengthening its status and reputation to avoid the predicted potential extinction. Igbo Literacy Project is a pilot documentation-based project seeking to create the largest digital and physical library of the Igbo world – touching on the language, the people and their acts, the Igbo community mappings, etc. This will serve as an exemplary project that can be replicated with other linguistic communities, especially those that are considered endangered or marginalized.