Kŋaloz'a'n Ujeret'i'n Ŋetełkila'n—Keepers of the Native Hearth

Abstract

This chapter describes a long-term collaboration among linguists, Indigenous scholars, anthropologists, cultural consultants and community members concerned with the fate of the Itelmen language in Kamchatka, Russia. Itelmen has been the object of systematic inquiry by scholars for nearly 300 years. For over 100 years visitors and linguistic researchers have predicted it would soon no longer be spoken. Yet, though there are few speakers today, the language is still spoken, and conservation and revitalization efforts have intensified since the late 1980s. We briefly review the history of language documentation, especially recent decades of collaborative efforts of the authors with Itelmen scholars and enthusiasts. In addition to field research by Ono and Bobaljik, a Gathering of speakers and cultural knowledge bearers from across Kamchatka was organized in 2012. These efforts, combined with recent language revitalization work of Degai and earlier work by colleagues Erich Kasten, Michael Dürr, and Klavdiia Khaloimova have created a rich body of materials for revitalization of the language, ranging from traditional classroom teaching materials to Karaoke CDs, computer resources and most recently a comprehensive Itelmen dictionary. The chapter describes our long-term collaborations, fieldwork, gatherings, speakers’ efforts and dedication, and resulting documentation.