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This book deals with the tension between a strategy of language maintenance (protecting and reinforcing the language where it is still spoken by community members) and a strategy of language revitalization (opening up access to the language to all interested people and encouraging new domains of its use). The case study presented concerns a grammar school in Upper Lusatia, which hosts the coexistence of a community of Upper Sorbian-speakers and a group of German native speakers who are learning Upper Sorbian at school. The tensions between these two groups studying at the same school are presented in this book against the background of various language strategies, practices and ideologies. The conflict of interests between the "traditional" community which perceives itself as the "guardians" of the minority language and its potential new speakers is played off on different levels by policy-makers and may be read through different levels of language policy and planning

"Dá̈kwändür Ghay Ghàkwädīndür--Our Story in Our Words tells the story of the peoples of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, from thousands of years ago to the present day. This richly illustrated book includes traditional stories from long ago, told by Elders, about the origins of the world and the aftermath of a great flood, about "The Double Winter" and "The Girl Who Married the Bear." Several stories appear in Tlingit, Tagish, Northern Tutchone, or Southern Tutchone, to share these original languages of Kwanlin Dün with the next generation. The lives of early inhabitants of the Southern Yukon are imagined with reference to archaelogical finds and scientific understandings. Elders also share stories about the arrival of white people, about the Gold Rush days and the building of the Alaska Highway, and all the intense challenges that Kwanlin Dün faced. KDFN citizens recall the decades-long land claims struggle that culminated in the KDFN Final Agreements in 2005. And the many nation-building accomplishments since then are celebrated--with an eye to much success ahead. Throughout the book are striking historical pictures, beautiful contemporary artwork, and vivid photographs of the land. Dá̈kwändür Ghay Ghàkwädīndür--Our Story in Our Words is a wide-ranging story, told in many unique voices, that celebrates the values, endurance, and accomplishments of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation."--

Verlagswerbung: "Als Soldat der Reserve war es mir eine Ehre, meinem Land zu dienen. Selbst, wenn die Gefahr zum ständigen Begleiter wird. Der Tod ist für mich kein Unbekannter. In allen meinen Einsätzen wurde ich täglich damit konfrontiert, doch wenn die Situation eintritt und Freunde betroffen sind, kann man den Eigenschutz, den man um seine Seele aufgebaut hat, komplett vergessen. Die Trauer überwältigt alle Vorsätze. Die Zeit in Afghanistan prägte mich in einer tief menschlichen Weise. Je länger ich mich in diesem weit entfernten Teil der Welt befand, desto tiefer wurde das Verständnis über die Kultur der Menschen im Land. Neue Sichtweisen auf ein Land, das in den Medien nur als Krisengebiet betrachte wird. Ich habe aber auch die Schönheit gesehen und Freunde gefunden."