President David Granger last evening announced a rescue plan for Guyana’s fading Amerindian languages as Indigenous Heritage Month was launched.
“The rich and diverse culture of our indigenous peoples need to be safeguarded…Today I wish to particularly express my hopes for indigenous languages in this republic,” Granger said in his address to the audience gathered at the Sophia Exhibition Complex.
Later, in his address, Granger announced a plan that would see the revitalisation of the Amerindian Language Project, albeit under a different name, at the University of Guyana.
He explained that one of the project’s objectives would be to see the completion of the compilation of dictionaries of the Carib and Patamona languages. The president explained that this was necessary since of the nine languages spoken by Guyana’s nine Indigenous tribes, only seven were in respective dictionaries.
“Your government will reestablish the Amerindian Language Project at the University of Guyana and henceforth it will no longer