Indigenous Languages Workshop

The JCB commemorated UNESCO's International Year of Indigenous Languages with a special exhibition, "Paper Worlds of Native Voices". The exhibition highlights the JCB's exceptional collection of Indigenous language materials from throughout the Americas - ranging in origin from the Arctic to Patagonia - and serves as an open invitation for scholars, interested publics, and bearers of traditional tribal knowledge to explore these items with an eye toward recovering linguistic traditions and challenging interpretations that have been garnered over centuries. Coinciding with the launch of this exhibition, the Library hosted four native Indigenous language speakers from Central and South America for a discussion around how the JCB could better connect with native communities, hosted by postdoctoral fellow Guillaume Candela. We offer our sincere thanks to Eduardo de la Cruz Cruz, Emil Keme, Elisa Loncon, and Americo Mendoza-Mori, speakers of Nahuatl, Maya K'iche', Mapuzungun, and Quechua, respectively, for joining us in Providence, and send our warmest congratulations to Emil Keme for being awarded the 2020 book prize from the Casa de las Americas for his Le Maya Q'atzij'/Nuestra palabra maya. Poéticas de resistencia y emancipación en Iximulew 1960-2012.