2011-2016 Délı̨nę Language, Music and Place Print Email

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Language, Music and Place in Délįnę, Northwest Territories, Canada develops an interdisciplinary approach to language documentation. As the community of Delįnę makes a transition to self-government, there has been increased interest in stories, song, and concepts of place in order to better understand what these reveal about self-government, or, more particularly, what is at the core of being a Dene (person). Governance thus is one focal point of this research. Complementing this, the project involves the development of an indigenous research methodology with respect to language research. More particularly, the research explores variation, change and continuity in language, stories, song, and concepts of place as they relate to governance and land stewardship. The approach involves documentation with three groups of families from distinct traditional land use areas across generations, including archival and new materials, as well as dialogue with relatives from neighbouring communities with distinct dialects in order to understand the role of place of origin in variability.

Nicole Beaudry is leading development of a book based on her research on Dene songs. Jane Modeste is prioritizing production of books based on transcribed oral texts.

Team Members

• Keren Rice (University of Toronto)
• Dagmar Jung (University of Cologne)
• Nicole Beaudry
• Deborah Simmons (Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı and University of Manitoba)
• Jane Modeste
• Michael Neyelle (Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı)
• Walter Bezha (Délı̨nę First Nation Lands Administrator)
• Fibbie Tatti

• Ken Caine (University of Alberta)

Funders

University of Cologne

Total Budget

$7, 409

Research Summary

pdf Learning about Glottal in Délı̨nę got’ı̨nę Kedǝ and Oromo Language (869 KB) s