The Language Conservancy

03/25/2026

Watch & Learn Wednesday — and a small milestone to celebrate.

Our YouTube channel has reached 3,000 subscribers!

Thank you to everyone who has watched, shared, and supported these language learning resources. Each view helps bring Indigenous languages into more homes, classrooms, and communities.

This week, learn words about food and drink in Cheyenne.

With high-frequency vocabulary and colorful images, this video is designed for beginning learners building everyday language skills.

Narrated by Lanell Ballard
Illustrated by Emma Percival, Allison Horner, and František Valer
Translations by Lanell Ballard, Christine Medicine Bull, and Michelle Three Fingers
Linguistic consultation by Corbyn Sipes and Ashleigh Surma

Created in collaboration with St. Labre Indian School.

Watch and learn with us:
https://youtu.be/ijOj3LQqukk?si=HdVlqABgBE4QsWmC

Language grows through use, sharing, and community.

Learn words about food and drink in Cheyenne! With high frequency vocabulary and colorful images, this video is ideal for beginning learners of Cheyenne.Narr...

03/18/2026

Watch & Learn Wednesday! Learn about the mammals of Dilzhe'e Apache territory!

Watch the full video here or on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsBUgS5Pnak

This video introduces high-frequency vocabulary through illustrative sentences and vibrant imagery — supporting beginning learners as they build connections between language, land, and the world around them.

Created in collaboration with the Yavapai-Apache Nation and supported by the Department of Education.

Narrated by Barbara Harney McCabe and Priscilla Lewis
Illustrated by Allison Horner, František Valer, Noah Link, and Marty Two Bulls Sr.
Developed with Dilzhe’e language and cultural guidance from Vincent Randall, Priscilla Lewis, and Barbara McCabe
Linguistic consultation by Willem de Reuse and Ashleigh Surma

For more resources, including pronunciation and expanded vocabulary, visit the Dilzhe'e Apache Online Dictionary:
https://dilzhee.western-apache.org/

Language connects us to land, knowledge, and each other.

Learn about mammals that occur in Dilzhe'e Apache territory! With high frequency vocabulary, illustrative sentences and colorful images, this video is ideal ...

03/16/2026

Exciting news from the Wolastoqey langauge community!

The Kekhimin immersion school initiative is helping bring the Wolastoqey langauge back into classrooms with the launch of the new langauge learning books created by community educators.

These materials are designed to support young learners as they build confidence speaking, reading and connecting with their langauge.

Lisa Perley-Dutcher founder and director of the school notes “We’ve worked hard to pull these resources together not only for ourselves and for meeting our objectives, but for other schools, our Indigenous schools that are trying to teach the language but don’t have the resources."

We're honored to support this work and celebrate the growing momentum behind the Wolastoqey langauge revitalization.

Read the full story here:

Kehkimin, the Wolastoqey immersion school located in Fredericton, has launched 13 new books for children as part of its efforts

03/11/2026

Watch & Learn Wednesday featuring a new video by the Yavapai-Apache Nation. Learn the names of animals in Yavapai!

Linguistic and cultural consultation provided by members of the Yavapai-Apache Nation.

Our work is dedicated to the ancestors of the Yavapai language.

Narrated by Reba Franco, Tracie Hunter, Jordan Lewis, and other Yavapai speakers

Project direction by Marley Juan

Illustrated by Marty Two Bulls Sr., Emma Percival, Noah Link and František Valer

Edited by Hunter Weedin and Ashleigh Surma

Learn about animals in Yavapai! With high frequency vocabulary and colorful images, this video is ideal for beginning learners of the language.This book proj...

02/11/2026

Watch & Learn Wednesday feature, Ta Hech Ktelamalsin? (How Are You?) This Delaware Nation Lenape early story book introduces vocabulary for everyday emotions.

Language carries emotion.
Language carries relationships,
Language carries us.

Narrated by Jim Rementer and illustrated by Tammy Jo Art.

Watch here:

This picture book video for early Lenape learners introduces vocabulary for several everyday emotions. Big emoji faces illustrate some of these familiar feel...

02/02/2026

As we close out our year-end campaign, we’re grateful for the support that helped move Indigenous language and literacy work forward. While we didn’t fully reach our goal, the generosity we received continues to show up in classrooms, communities, and shared learning.

Still here. Still speaking. Still learning.

12/18/2025

Like other Native languages the Ute language has always been a spoken language. Today, literacy efforts are helping bring the language into classrooms with books to increase literacy and support new learners as they build new skills while honoring oral tradition.

We’re honored to see Indigenous language education in Colorado classrooms highlighted by Colorado Public Radio.

This story centers Ute educators, Elders, and students who are working to ensure their language is spoken, taught, and carried forward — even in the face of limited resources and generations of disruption.

We’re grateful to work by invitation alongside the Ute Mountain Ute Language Project and it's partnering schools who are leading this work and shaping language learning in ways that reflect their values, culture, and lived experience.

📖 Read the full story:

The only problem: No one is fully fluent.

12/10/2025

Watch & Learn Wednesday! Say hello to Hováhne (Animals) in Northern Cheyenne! This is a fun, beginner-friendly way to hear and repeat Northern Cheyenne vocabulary.

What’s your favorite Cheyenne animal word? Tell us in the comments!

Watch the new video here:

Learn about animals in Cheyenne! With high frequency vocabulary and colorful images, this video is ideal for beginning learners of Cheyenne.This book project...

11/26/2025

Watch & Learn Wednesday! Learn Northern Cheyenne words for bugs and critters in this new video, “Kéesono,” narrated by Lanell Ballard.

Check it out here:

Learn about bugs, snakes, and other critters in Cheyenne! With high frequency vocabulary and colorful images, this video is ideal for beginning learners of C...

11/11/2025

Today, we honor and remember the Native Code Talkers whose languages became a shield for freedom during World War I and World War II. Their honor, courage, and service showcases the enduring strength of Native language.

Many Native Nations contributed Code Talkers, including:
Navajo, Choctaw, Comanche, Cherokee, Lakota, Dakota, Meskwaki (Fox), Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Osage, Hopi, Crow, Cheyenne, Assiniboine, Oneida, Zuni, Pawnee, Tlingit, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Ojibwe (Chippewa/Anishinaabe), Lenape (Delaware), Cree, Kiowa, Menominee, Mohawk, Miwok, Nez Perce, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox, Ponca, Mississippi Choctaw

These brave men turned the languages of their Nations into unbreakable codes — protecting lives and proving that Indigenous languages are powerful, vital, and enduring.

Navajo Code Talkers were among the most documented, read more about the use of the Navajo language here:

Winter 2001, Vol. 33, No. 4 By Adam Jevec As Americans and Japanese troops fought island to island in the Pacific during World War II, the Japanese used their considerable skill as code breakers to intercept many messages being sent by American forces. After the war, however, Japan's own chief of in...

10/31/2025

Dictionary.com just named “67” (yes, the number!) as the 2025 Word of the Year — showing how fast new slang can spread across cultures.

It got us thinking … every language has words or phrases that carry humor, identity, and connection.

What’s a modern word, phrase, or saying in your language that’s caught on recently — maybe a playful inside joke or a new expression that young speakers use?

Share it below and let’s celebrate how Indigenous languages are alive, evolving, and uniquely ours.

You can read the full announcement here:
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2025/