When a community loses its language, it loses a part of the culture such as songs , myths and history and the effects can be culturally devastating. The article "Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction" talks about an American Indian language, the Siletz, that was once on the verge of extinction (in the 1950s) but now has its own online dictionary. Siletz used to have only about five speakers left.
There are other 12 dictionaries that have been financed by a nonprofit group called Living Tongues Institute. This same nonprofit group helped start the Siletz dictionary in 2005. One of the tribe members Bud Lane has been working on the online dictionary for about 7 years. As the article says he recorded almost 10 000 audio entries himself. The tribes of Siletz Indians now have about 4900 members who speak Siletz and the language is taught through the sixth grade at the public school in Siletz and they are planning to have a teaching program in high school language where students will be able to take Siletz as a foreign language.
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