Northern Arapaho Language Revitalization with Virtual Reality

Abstract:In cooperation with elders of the Northern Arapaho Language and Culture Commission (NALCC), a language revitalization project using virtual reality is being developed, supported by a National Science Foundation grant. The origins of the project are explored, underlying methodologies examined, as well as the important role that the elders of the Northern Arapaho Language and Culture Commission play in guiding the goals of the grant: (a) exploring the potentials of virtual reality in language revitalization; (b) documenting spoken Arapaho language with an emphasis on hunting and animal migration stories and songs related to place names on the Wind River Indian Reservation and other locations in Wyoming and Colorado; and (c) developing virtual reality curricula units for Wind River Indian reservation K–12 schools. Difficulties in conducting research during the covid19 pandemic, especially with Indigenous communities that have been hit hard by the virus, impacted our methodology and project process. This project seeks to provide a blueprint for other scholars interested in working with tribes and grant agencies in using VR in language revitalization. The project engages the questions if and how VR and subsequent technologies can be used as decolonial tools to help reverse language loss and promote culture.