PhD student's efforts get Alaskan Inuit dialect added to Facebook

CBC News reported on a campaign started by linguistics PhD student Myles Creed:

"Facebook has added Inupiaq, an Alaskan Inuit dialect, as a language option thanks to a grassroots project started by an Alaskan man.

Myles Creed is from the Inupiaq community of Kotzebue, Alaska. He's a PhD student studying linguistics at the University of Victoria and is involved with Inupiaq language revitalization in Alaska.

'A lot of the discussions we've had is on, how do we make sure that the language is accessible to all people in all places?' he said.

He's currently learning Inupiaq, describing himself as an intermediate learner.

He saw Facebook as an online space that can be made accessible to Indigenous languages.

'I think technology often can be thought of as a scary thing because English is so dominant online,' he said.

'I also think that technology can be used as an opportunity for Indigenous languages to thrive in places that they hadn't been represented in before.'"

Read the full story on CBC News.