Language revitalization and identity in social context: A community-based Athabascan language preservation project in western interior Alaska

This study documents a language planning effort funded by an Administration for Native Americans Grant to the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a regional nonprofit tribal organization. The language revitalization project focuses on western interior Alaska and encompasses five traditional Athabascan languages with few remaining speakers. Project discussions included options for language planning, training activities, and educational program and materials development that would enhance language survival. Three dominant project themes are identified and discussed. They are (1) critique and resistance, (2) self-determination and activism, and (3) collaboration and leadership.