Indigenous languages thrive through oral documentation in India
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Kshetrabasi Juanga, an educator and writer speaking the Juang language of India, explained how communities are working to preserve their culture through audiovisual documentation.
Juanga, a language spoken by around 30,000 people in the Odisha state of eastern India, faces the risk of stagnation as globalization introduces more languages through technology. OpenSpeaks Archives is developing a method for wikimedists to cite oral knowledge from communities with limited written resources, including nearly 20 language communities in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Juanga noted that while some efforts have been made by the Odisha government and language institutions to document the Juang language, including tri-language books, primers, and research, deeper cultural elements like festivals, ceremonies, and songs remain largely unrecorded. He believes this documentation is essential not only for current speakers, but also for future generations who may be able to learn about their heritage through resources like Wikipedia.
He highlighted the importance of subtitling videos to reach those who have moved away from rural areas and to help outsiders understand the moral codes embedded within Juang traditions. Juanga himself contributes by documenting traditional knowledge on his YouTube channel, Majang Studio Vlogger, sharing techniques like fire-starting and shelter-building, while advocating for larger-scale documentation efforts.
