FirstVoices — Introduction
“[A]n online space for Indigenous communities to share and promote language, oral culture and linguistic history.”
First Voices Website
FirstVoices is an initiative of the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC), who partnered with communities to create “a free online environment that connects the knowledge carried in our languages to modern digital technology” (FPCC website). Dictionaries on FirstVoices are created by community language teams who work with Elders to upload dictionary entries, stories, and songs to the platform. Teams must contact FirstVoices to establish their project and create a language page. FirstVoices is not intended to support multiple dictionaries for one language, and language communities are encouraged to collaborate to create their community site.
Language resources created on FirstVoices are accessible on personal computers and mobile phones and can be adapted to create free mobile language apps. FirstVoices language sites are designed to include audio, images, and videos. Although most information added to FirstVoices is publicly accessible, it is possible to restrict access to specific users. Community sites on FirstVoices are easy to use and offer a variety of ways for users to interact with the material. The sites can include language games, alphabets, a portal for children, songs, stories, and cultural notes.
FirstVoices aims to provide hardware, software and tech support to language teams. FirstVoices staff offer training in professional audio recording and archiving, along with support for digitizing physical archives to FirstVoices members. Members own all content created by language teams on their community site.
FirstVoices does not create physical print dictionaries, support exporting to a file format that can be used to print a dictionary, or provide tools for language analysis. It is a tool primarily designed for language documentation and revitalization. Community sites on FirstVoices are easy to use and offer a variety of ways for users to interact with the materials. FirstVoices is intended to support and collaborate with community languages teams working to create a language and culture archive. It is not designed for independent lexicographers who wish to create an online dictionary.
FirstVoices also offers keyboard software for over 100 languages, including every First Nations language in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and many Indigenous languages spoken in the United States.
Highlights
- Supports multimedia entries (audio, images, and video)
- Once downloaded, the mobile app can be used offline
- Offers extensive support if there are issues using the software
- The software can be accessed on any computer system with a current browser (e.g. Safari or Chrome)
- The interface is designed to be easy to use
- The site’s English language interface can be translated for immersion purposes
From First People’s Council. 2020. “FirstVoices: Benefits.” First People’s Cultural Council. https://fpcc.ca/stories/firstvoices/.
- Open source, free for B.C. communities
- Data is owned by communities
- Each language team has full control of access and data management for their project
- Community Elders and youth collaborate to record dictionary entries, stories, images, video, and build dictionaries
- Support and training is offered for language teams
- The interface is fully searchable, and is an ideal educational tool
- Hosted on a secure Canadian cloud infrastructure
- The platform provides advanced data management features specifically tailored for language revitalization work based on research and ongoing feedback from communities
- Provides authorization and authentication features that allow for the creation of public and private archives
Considerations
- Dictionaries made using FirstVoices are not intended to be printed or published as a physical book
- The website cannot be downloaded and accessed offline
- Does not offer software or tools for language analysis
- Does not support independent lexicographers or researchers who wish to create an online dictionary without a community team
Alternatives to FirstVoices
Living Dictionaries is similar to FirstVoices but supports language communities outside of British Columbia, Canada. It can be used to create online dictionaries hosted by the Living Dictionaries website. Living Dictionaries is intended for language data only and does not have the same cultural archive functionality as FirstVoices.
Murkurtu’s dictionary function is similar to FirstVoices, but with the added ability to link archived heritage items to language items. Murkurtu requires users to handle their own web-hosting (unlike FirstVoices and Living Dictionaries).
Examples of Dictionaries Using FirstVoices
Support Services
FirstVoices offers multiple contact forms for specific topics, as well as additional resources and staff support that can be accessed by reaching out to hello@firstvoices.com.
Developer
FirstVoices is overseen by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. The project began in 2003 and continues to be updated regularly.