Language for indigenous peoples is more than a form of communication, it is nature and the world we inhabit, it is collectivity, being part of a people and history. It is having the possibility of sharing a cosmovision, giving continuity to the ancestors, and transmitting knowledge, recipes, wisdom, sensations, and emotions. It is the soul and life of our people. When an indigenous language disappears, a unique body of environmental, technological, social, economic, and cultural knowledge that its speakers have codified and accumulated over millennia inevitably disappears. At Pawanka we recognize the immense value of preserving indigenous languages and support community initiatives to protect and strengthen languages.
