National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages and Myaamia Center staff stand in 2024 with leaders of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and citizens from 10 Indigenous communities in California, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma who are participating in the apprenticeship program (photo by Karen Baldwin, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

The Myaamia Center has been awarded a $2.1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand the work of the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages.

The institute — based in the Myaamia Center on Miami University’s Oxford campus — supports Indigenous communities interested in using archival documentation to revitalize their languages by providing training and technology to archive and analyze language materials.

The funding, which is the largest external grant the Myaamia Center has received, will support National Breath of Life’s mission of empowering Indigenous communities across the United States to revive and sustain their languages through access to archival materials, specialized training, and one-of-a-kind technology.

National Breath of Life is co-directed by Daryl Baldwin, executive director of the Myaamia Center, and Gabriela Pérez Báez, associate professor of linguistics at the University of Oregon. The Myaamia Center is a Miami Tribe of Oklahoma initiative that serves the needs of the Myaamia people through in-depth research to assist tribal educational initiatives aimed at the preservation of language and culture.

National Breath of Life participants analyze archival materials at a National Breath of Life workshop in Washington D.C. in 2015 (photo by Karen Baldwin, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

'Archives play a critical role'

National Breath of Life won an international award last year for helping tribes keep their languages alive. The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries & Museums, an international nonprofit, awarded the institute the 2024 International Guardians of Culture and Lifeways Language Program - Institutional Excellence Award.

“Archives play a critical role in a growing number of revitalization efforts today,” Baldwin said. “The amount of capacity building needed to fully utilize archival materials is both labor intensive and expensive, but necessary if we are to move our efforts forward.”

Baldwin added, “Support from Mellon Foundation will significantly increase the capacity of the National Breath of Life apprenticeship program and training needed for many of the tribal communities we work with. This growth is very timely.”

Daryl Baldwin and Gabriela Pérez Báez, co-directors, welcoming apprentices to the gathering last May at Miami University (photo by Karen Baldwin, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma).

How the funding will help

The grant will enable the expansion of National Breath of Life programming in three significant ways:

• Doubling the size of the Community Archivist Apprenticeship Program.

The number of apprentices will increase from 10 to 20, to support more Indigenous communities in digitizing, storing, and analyzing language materials. Selected participants from more than 50 communities who have already completed foundational training with National Breath of Life will be chosen.

• Launching a fellowship program for advanced language revitalization.

A new fellowship program will support apprentices who are ready to advance from data processing to the integration of archival materials directly into community language programs. Each fellowship community will gain access to a personalized digital education portal to further their outreach and educational initiatives.

• Strengthening technology and staffing.

The grant will fund a dedicated, full-time technology team, which will support the development of software like the Indigenous Languages Digital Archive (ILDA) and educational portals for community language programs. The expanded team will include developers and a full-time archivist to meet increasing demand, improve platform functionality, and maintain sustainability.

Expanded programs begin in early 2025

National Breath of Life’s initiatives are designed to uphold the data sovereignty of Indigenous communities, ensuring these communities retain complete control over their digital archives and language data. With the expanded program and resources, National Breath of Life is committed to advancing collaborative, community-centered technology solutions.

The Myaamia Center will begin implementing these expanded programs in early 2025 and anticipates an immediate impact as more Indigenous communities gain access to necessary language revitalization tools.

The Mellon Foundation awarded a $510,000 grant to the Myaamia Center in 2021 to support National Breath of Life. That grant was used to target important areas of development for the institute to increase its impact. It included a pilot of the apprenticeship program, which served as a foundation for the expanded apprenticeship and the new fellowship to be funded by the award.

Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages? Visit the website for more information.