NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: social sciences, elders, aboriginal language, Gwich'in

Objective(s): To protect the existing recordings of the Tukudh Bible; to place on record recording(s) of the Tukudh Syllabarium; and, to begin the process of making a bibliography of existing recordings of Gwich’in.

Project Description: The immediate aims of The Sounds of Tukudh Project are: 1) to protect the existing recordings of the Tukudh Bible; 2) to place on record recording(s) of the Tukudh Syllabarium; and, 3) to begin the process of making a bibliography of existing recordings of Gwich’in. The first goal will be met through the technical means of re-recording the existing tapes of the Tukudh Bible in digital form. This will be accomplished at the Language Office of the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute (GSCI) at Fort McPherson. William Firth, the Language Manager in Fort McPherson, and other members of the senior staff of the GSCI have indicated their willingness to participate as full partners in The Sounds of Tukudh Program. Preserving the Tukudh Syllabarium will be more difficult. No elder known to us at present claims knowledge of all the syllables in the Syllabarium, although a number of elders have indicated that they are familiar with many or most of the syllables, and are willing to be recorded. This project will therefore require the participation of a Research Assistant who will facilitate the recordings of those elders willing to participate. The research team will then review the recordings, and edit the materials in order to make available a digital master copy of the sounds of the Syllabarium based on the readings by the elders. Variation in rendering of individual syllables may be expected due to differences in dialect and family traditions. The third goal, of beginning a bibliography of existing recordings of Tukudh will be facilitated by this project’s work. In addition to recording the Syllabarium, the Research Assistant will be active in coordinating the project’s activities with existing repositories of recordings of Gwich’in including the archives of the GSCI itself. The current project is part of the ongoing "Gwich'in Ethno-Astronomy Project" with the Gwich’in Tribal Council Cultural Heritage Division (formely the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute - GSCI). The end product of the immediate project will be the availability of the full Tukudh Bible, and a composite version of the Tukudh Syllabarium, both in digital form. These will be made available to the Gwich’in community and public at large by means of the internet, and integrated where possible into existing websites dedicated to learning and protection of the Gwich’in language. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from August 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016.