- reiru al Indiĝenaj Popoloj
Questions and Answers about Indigenous Peoples Project and Esperanto
What is Indigenous Peoples Project?
Indigenous Peoples Project is an international organization that exists to: --facilitate communication among indigenous peoples, and between indigenous peoples and non-indigenous cultures. --inform the international public about the ways of life and conditions of indigenous peoples --make people aware of traditional and modern works of the spoken and written word by indigenous authors.
What is the working language of Indigenous Peoples Project?
The working language of IPP is Esperanto.
Esperanto is a “bridge language”. It is neither the language of any country, nor of any ethnic group; instead, it is a language that was constructed to help speakers of different languages to bridge language gaps that they might encounter, and to do so without sacrificing their own languages. Esperanto is simpler than most other languages because it is phonetic, it has no irregular verbs or plurals, and its structure is logical. At the same time, Esperanto is complex enough to function as a fully expressive language.
How can Indigenous Peoples Project be useful to indigenous peoples?
Indigenous Peoples Project can link indigenous groups and individuals to each other through Esperanto for cooperation and mutual support.
IPP can help make the cultures, goals, and conditions of indigenous peoples better known.
IPP can collect indigenous linguistic expressions, from ancient chants to modern novels, and encourage appreciation and translation of the works.
IPP can inform indigenous peoples about Esperanto and how to learn and use it through the Internet, correspondence, and face-to-face courses and gatherings.
Why is the existence of Esperanto important for indigenous peoples?
As is well known, many if not most indigenous peoples find that they need to learn two languages in order to function fully in their societies: --their indigenous language --the language of the non-indigenous community in which or near which they live. This situation leads, for example, to a Navaho of the United States who speaks Navaho and English, an Ainu of Japan who speaks Ainu and Japanese, an a Guarani from Paraguay who speaks Guarani and Spanish. Among them, these three people speak six languages, but they do not have a language in common.
Esperanto was created (approximately 100 years ago) to be that language in common: a language that can be learned with comparative ease, that has no national or political association, and that has been refined by decades of use in international meetings and classes, in international publishing, in correspondence and, more recently, in Internet communication.
Considering the role of English as an international second language, why is Esperanto important now?
Speakers of Esperanto are aware of the importance of English as an international language, as they are aware that French, Latin, and other languages had important international roles in the past. They are also aware of the world’s important regional languages, such as Spanish, Arabic, and Swahili.
Esperanto, unlike English, French, and Latin, does not depend for its strength upon the political or economic power of a country, nor does it depend on geography or a colonial past. Esperanto has its roots in people’s awareness that:
---interpretation and translation cost needless money and time
---using national languages for international communication impedes understanding because of the irregularities and quirks of every national language. (For example, the differences between “knight” and “night” or between “shell” and “she’ll” in English are impediments to understanding in a multi-language situation.)
---while there is certainly no single answer to the world’s language problems, Esperanto is a way in which those problems can be made less severe and less costly in terms of human dignity, efficiency, and the allocation of resources.
What does Esperanto look like in written form?
(Note: In Esperanto, each letter has only one sound.)
Esperanto estas logika kaj fleksebla lingvo. Homoj parolas Esperanton tra la mondo, kaj oni uzas Esperanton por internacia komunikado. Se vi lernos paroli Esperanton kaj se vi uzos la lingvon, vi helpos solvi gravan, mondskalan problemon.
English translation: Esperanto is a logical and flexible language. People speak Esperanto around the world, and it is used in international communication. If you learn to speak Esperanto and if you use the language, you will help solve a severe, worldwide problem.
To contact the representative for Indigenous Peoples Project in the United States of America and Canada, please write or e-mail to:
Erik Felker ejfelker@dslextreme.com 414 E. Cedar Ave., Apt. 11 / Burbank, CA 91501 / U.S.A.