North American Indian Sign Language Video Dictionary

传统上，北美印第安人手语（NAISL），也被称为手语，是一种重要的部落间和内部语言，在北美代代相传。然而，近年来，签署《国家手语法》的人数以惊人的速度下降。没有广泛和即时的文献记录，今天剩下的手语可能是部落手语知识的最后载体。该奖项使NAISL视频词典的创建成为可能，标志着为子孙后代保护这一丰富的文化和语言资源迈出了重要的一步。NAISL词典项目代表了对土著人民以及研究领域的重要文化贡献，如美洲印第安人研究、语言学、人类学、土著教育、历史和手语研究。这个项目是一个社区驱动的努力，为部落提供工具来研究他们自己独特的手语，并将其重新用于他们的社区。NAISL词典包含了来自多个部落社区的手语的视频记录。符号根据NAISL的种类、意义和语言标识符进行分类，包括手的形状、位置、运动、手掌方向和面部表情。每个条目还提供了补充的文化和词源信息。此外，标志分为公共或私人；包含敏感文化信息的私人标志由相关的部落语言程序保留和管理，而公共标志则对所有人开放。该项目旨在解决NAISL在语言和文化保护以及学术研究中代表性不足的问题。最近，人们对在土著社区使用传统手语的兴趣高涨，这也推动了NAISL的强大文档和复兴。视频词典与参与的部落共享，并可供公众用于研究目的。它也被分发给部落，作为语言和文化的教育材料。该奖项是美国国家科学基金会和美国国家人文基金会为美国国家科学基金会动态语言基础设施- NEH记录濒危语言项目建立的资助伙伴关系的一部分。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Traditionally, North American Indian Sign Language (NAISL), also known as Hand Talk, was a vital inter- and intra-tribal language passed down through the generations across North America. In recent times, however, the number of NAISL signers has declined at an alarming rate. Without extensive and immediate documentation, the remaining signers today are likely the last carriers of tribal sign language knowledge. The creation of a NAISL video dictionary, made possible by this award, represents a significant step towards preservation of this rich cultural and linguistic resource for future generations. The NAISL dictionary project represents an important cultural contribution to Native Peoples as well as to fields of study such as American Indian studies, linguistics, anthropology, Indigenous education, history, and Sign Language studies. This project is a community-driven effort that gives tribes the tools to study their own unique sign languages and bring them back into use in their communities. The NAISL dictionary contains video recordings of signs demonstrated by signers from multiple tribal communities. Signs are categorized by tribal NAISL variety, meaning, and linguistic identifiers including handshape, location, movement, palm orientation and facial expression. Supplemental cultural and etymological information is also given for each entry. In addition, signs are classified as either public or private; private signs containing sensitive cultural information are retained and managed by relevant tribal language programs, while public signs are accessible to all. This project addresses the underrepresentation of NAISL in language and culture preservation as well as in scholarly research. Robust documentation and revitalization of NAISL is also motivated by a recent upsurge of interest in using traditional sign languages in Native communities. The video dictionary is shared with participating tribes and available to the public for research purposes. It is also distributed to tribes for use as educational material in language and culture. This award is made as part of a funding partnership between the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities for the NSF Dynamic Language Infrastructure – NEH Documenting Endangered Languages Program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.