The Naqenaga Youtube channel: another chance for new media?

In the early 1970's Alaska was all abuzz with excitement about Native languages. The Eskimo Language Workshop worked intensively to develop curriculum. The State legislature passed the bilingual education act, authorizing the use of Native languages in schools. The Alaska Native Language Center was founded, and scores of young Native speakers such as Eliza Jones and Katherine Peter devoted their careers to language work. After nearly a century of official suppression of Native languages, this was truly a period re-awakening.

Amidst all this excitement the rural communities of Alaska were being linked by new communications technologies. Here was an opportunity to exploit new media for the benefit of Native languages. Television was thought to be language-neutral. There is nothing English-specific about television. Broadcasting in Native languages would both empower Native communities and help maintain languages. But somehow it didn't happen that way. By the mid to late 1970's satellite television had arrived in most villages, but broadcasts in Native language were almost non-existent. The imagined potential of the new media was never realized. Rather, television ended up promoting the shift to English, leading Michael Krauss to famously refer to television as "cultural nerve gas."

Then along comes YouTube Naqenaga Channel. Dena'ina speakers and learners posting conversational videos. A new virtual new media community. Is this another chance for new media? Can YouTube succeed where broadcast television failed? It certainly has a good chance. The barrier to entry is much lower, as anyone with a webcam and an internet connection can post a video or a video response. The skits on Naqenaga are creative and fun, and getting better all the time.

Dghishin gheli!