Welcome
Welcome to Arctic Indigenous Languages website.
This website aims to be a resource that strengthens Arctic indigenous languages. It includes background papers and articles related to indigenous languages, video clips of Arctic indigenous people explaining how important their languages are to them, and descriptions of current best practices in the protection and revitalization of indigenous languages.
Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium
The Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium was held in Tromsø, Norway on 19-21 October 2008.
This symposium was an exciting initiative that brought together indigenous peoples from throughout the circumpolar region to build on each other's knowledge and experience in protecting and revitalizing our indigenous languages.
The symposium aimed to be a forum where we as Arctic indigenous peoples could learn from one another and develop practical ways to revitalize our languages so they remain strong for generations to come.
The languages symposium was mandated by the Salekhard Declaration, 2006, which stated that "Ministers representing the eight Arctic States, convening in Salekhard, Russia, for the Fifth Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, ... Recognizing the cultural diversity in the Arctic represented by more than 40 distinct peoples, cultures and languages ... Hereby:"
"Encourage Member States and other parties to support the cultural diversity of the Arctic and especially uphold and revitalize the indigenous languages, support the Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium and welcome further projects in this important field"
(from the Salekhard Declaration, Salekhard, Russia, October 26, 2006)