By: Tiger Song, VISIONS Blackfeet alum of 2023 & 2024
Today, more than half of the world’s languages are at risk of disappearing, along with the cultures, histories, and worldviews they carry.
I understood this firsthand when I attended the VISIONS Blackfoot program in 2023 and 2024. As a curious 15 and 16 year-old, I was excited to learn about the traditional Blackfoot indigenous culture, which I’ve had very little exposure to at my homes in Beijing and Boston.
In these trips, I learned so much about the indigenous Blackfoot culture, but also about the fact that the language, culture, and history were endangered because of a history of repression.
Again and again, I heard the story of the language surviving generations of repression yet fading due to societal factors today. Even though I was utterly foreign to the Blackfoot culture, I felt empathetic to the threat to the Blackfoot identity. I also understood, however, that the decline of the Blackfoot language was not singular—indeed, more than 50% of languages around the world are currently at risk of extinction.
Tiger Song with Lee and Larry Ground, Blackfeet elders and teachers
I noticed that it was necessary to do whatever I could do, whether large or small, to aid the preservation and revitalization of cultural heritage around the world. For this reason, I created Language Heritage Archives last summer. But for me, “language” isn’t just a means of communication. It’s the gateway to culture, history, and ultimately identity.
I conducted Language Heritage Archive’s first project in the Blackfoot Reservation, during the summer of 2025. There, I interviewed many of VISION’s previous speakers: Leon Rattler, Larry and Lee Ground, Joe Kipp. I also interviewed leaders of local language revitalization organizations, such as Darren Kipp of the Piegan Institute and Emmette Dusty Bull of Blackfoot Eco Knowledge. During this trip, I even visited the ranch again to see VISIONS Director Katherine & Co of 2025 participants and leaders!
Darren Kipp (Director of Cuts Wood School) and Tiger
Ever since the first Blackfoot project, Language Heritage Archives has been expanding. My classmates at school have conducted interview projects in Kazakhstan and China, and we are currently conducting a project with the Ladin language in northern Italy. To further our goals, a friend and I have been developing the Language Heritage Archives AI, which facilitates inquiry and research into endangered cultures by acting as a query system to any questions a user might have.
Most importantly, I need you, VISIONS alums, and your help to expand this project. If you are interested at all in language, history, and culture, or if you are connected to any endangered language or culture communities, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. There is a contact form on the bottom of the homepage.
I am so excited to collaborate!
-Tiger
