PBS: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe works to preserve language

Friday, November 11, 2011  

"The Wampanoag Indians of southeastern Massachusetts stopped speaking their native language 150 years ago. But, in 1993, Jessie "Little Doe" Baird began trying to restore their fluency.

And filmmaker Anne Makepeace chronicled her efforts.

Here's an excerpt from the documentary "We Still Live Here."

MAN: We were discussing whether or not there should be a language program. Do we want to bring it back? You know, should we bring it back? How do we do it?

RUSSELL PETERS, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe: We had committees from Gay Head and from Assonet and from all the different Wampanoag communities. We had to bring it all together and figure out how we could get it in a cohesive way."

Get the Story:
'We Still Live Here' Details Effort to Restore Wampanoag Language (PBS Newshour 10/10)

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