Meet the robots programmed by kids to speak their Indigenous languages

Meet the robots programmed by kids to speak their Indigenous languages

A nonprofit initiative in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is introducing customizable robots programmed to teach endangered Indigenous languages to Native American children. The project, called SkoBot, emerged from the inspiration of toy robots that teach English and aims to address the rapid decline of Indigenous language speakers across North America. Danielle Boyer, a 25-year-old member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, founded th…

Building resilience also means protecting Indigenous languages

Resilient infrastructure enables Indigenous communities to remain on their ancestral lands and protects more than lives and livelihoods. It also helps preserve languages, cultures and the knowledge systems that underpin resilience.

The robots kids build to preserve Native American languages

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The U.S. Indian boarding school system spent decades trying to remove Native American languages from Native children. Kids were separated from their families and punished, sometimes violently, for speaking their mother tongues. Many never passed those languages on. Generations later, some languages have only a few dozen fluent speakers while some have none. Danielle Boyer grew up watching this happen close to…