Endangered Language: Preserving the Voices of Yosemite
Introduced by Muriel Ammon
Submitted by Jennifer Robin
News from Native California is celebrating Indigenous languages this summer!
Please enjoy this Ofi Nia Productions short documentary for a look into the revitalization efforts of Southern Sierra Miwuk language. Together, community language practitioners Helen Coats, Irene Angel Vasquez, and Anthony Cabezut share on the history of their language, from the longstanding place-based relationships held within the language to the disruption of language transmission by way of boarding school.
Endangered Language raises awareness of how the dynamics of federal recognition are prevalent within community language work. These dynamics are of particular importance in California, home to a great number of Indigenous language communitites and a disproportionate amount of non-federally recognized tribes. This documentary is a must see.
Producer Jennifer Robin, of Ofi Nia Productions, comments, “The film was selected for the LA Skins Film Festival in 2024, Tonkawa Film Fest 2025, and won first place at the W.A.V.E. Awards (2024) in the Community Issues category. It would be an honor to be a part of this special feature.”
Find more information from the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation on language, cultural preservation, and their campaign for federal recognition here: https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/.
