Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha Project

Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha Project
The Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha (Tsúùt’ìnà Language') Project is a joint initiative between the Tsuu T'ina Nation outside of Calgary, Alberta, and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta. It targets Tsúùt’ìnà (an Athapaskan, Na-Dene language formerly known as Sarcee or Sarsi), first made famous in the linguistics literature by Edward Sapir, who conducted fieldwork on the language in the 1920s. The language is highly endangered as only a few dozen speakers remain. Major activities of the Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha Project include the digitization, cataloguing, archiving, and curating of historical and contemporary recordings; installation of a band-funded audio sound studio at the Tsuu T'ina Nation and training of community members to prepare archiveable recordings; the delivery of a customized Community Linguist Certificate program at the reserve so that community members can learn techniques for and engage in linguistic analysis, language documentation, language and culture revitalization, and language pedagogy. Individuals in the Department are also assisting Bruce Starlight and Gary Donovan in updating and reformatting a comprehensive bilingual dictionary of the Tsúùt’ìnà language. Several volumes of contemporary and historical stories are also in development.

Links for Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha Project
Tsúùt’ìnà Gunaha Project page on the U. Alberta website

Tsuu T'ina Nation website