The Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives in suburban Washington, D.C., serves as a repository for hundreds of Native languages whose speakers are working to keep them alive for future generations.

Daryl Baldwin started researching the language of his tribe, the Miami Nation of Oklahoma, out of personal curiosity. Now he directs the Myaamia Center at Miami University and has taught his children to speak Myaamia.

“Language is not just one thing. It has a cultural and community context,” Baldwin told The Washington Post. “We have to get the knowledge to the community, and the archives are the historical repository where you can find all the different resources.”

The National Museum of Natural History’s Recovering Voices program also helps with language preservation.

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Smithsonian archives preserve lost and dying languages (The Washington Post 1/21)