When an Indigenous language goes silent, a vital part of a culture is lost. The ideologies, knowledge, and ways of life that are expressed through the words of that language cannot be communicated fluently through a foreign language. Colonization and the imposition of foreign languages, have, on many occasions, abruptly and violently displaced the original languages of Indigenous Peoples. Their histories, traditions, and ways of life have a greater chance of surviving as they actively maintain their language, using it as a tool to communicate their culture.
The loss of language has had a major impact on the education of Indigenous youth. The younger generations have grown up with new linguistic structures that have influenced their identity, values, and their relationships. Ideally, governments should protect Indigenous languages as facets of cultural richness, especially when the language is under threat. In reality, however, Indigenous languages are often neglected, and it is left to the communities to find their own strategies and solutions to rescue their languages.
The speakers of an endangered Indigenous language, usually the Elders, become the guardians of the language, the teachers from whom it must be learned. However, the question arises as to how to engage and connect them with the youth. That is where radio comes in, a medium that continues to be the main channel of communication for Indigenous communities, especially those who exist in remote and isolated locations. Radio plays an important role in promoting the use of language by providing a space for free education and reflection on its importance to a community.
Because radio is one of the most accessible platforms of communication for Indigenous Peoples in many countries, this has resulted in an active community radio movement. For many Indigenous Peoples, the low cost of radio makes it the ideal tool for defending their cultures, lands, natural resources, and rights. Even in impoverished communities lacking electricity, many people can afford a small battery-powered radio. High levels of illiteracy in many Indigenous communities prevent people from accessing information from print sources. In many remote areas, Indigenous people, especially Elders, may only speak one language, meaning that important messages broadcast in other languages in the mainstream media often do not reach them.
A community radio station located in El Salvador, where the Indigenous communities are fighting to continue practicing their culture and maintain their languages with few native speakers left, is playing an important role in this movement. Radio Sensunat is trying to bring back the Náhuat language, which dramatically diminished following a historical repression that punished people for expressing themselves in their native language. The legacy of this often-violent repression, which primarily occurred between 1930–1945, has resulted in generational trauma that persists today.
To address this situation, Radio Sensunat decided to create a project involving the silenced generations—those who had to keep quiet about their knowledge and their language in order to survive. The Náhuat language is the only surviving language of the three Indigenous Peoples who inhabit El Salvador: the Lencas, Cacaoperas, and Náhuat. Despite the value and urgency of revitalizing Náhuat, it was not until 2014 that the Salvadoran government legally recognized the language. However, no efforts have been made since to protect it. The exact number is unknown, but it is estimated that only a few hundred speakers remain.
As part of their work to reclaim the rights of Indigenous Peoples and support Indigenous cultures and languages, the radio stations are educating the community and promoting their native languages. The idea was to use the radio as a tool to make the knowledge of the Náhuat Elders available to the entire population. “We are making efforts so that our language does not disappear. we do not distinguish between generations; everyone can teach and everyone can learn,” say members of Radio Sensunat.
A team from the station interviewed Elders from the communities of Izalco, Nahuizalco, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Tacuba, Cantón el Sincuyo, Cantón el Rosario, and Cantón Rafael. From these conversations, they produced content in Náhuat and Spanish to be broadcast several times a day. The Elders spoke about aspects of daily life of the Náhuat People, the names of certain foods, and how to say certain common words in Náhuat so that the listeners would become familiar with the language and hopefully become more curious about it.
Cultural Survival staff visiting Radio Sensunat.
Another objective of the project was to give recognition to the Elders of the community. Being given the opportunity to speak their language in front of a microphone and doing so with complete freedom was gratifying, since for many years they had been denied their right to speak their native language. When they heard their voices on the radio, they were amazed. Members of Radio Sensunat say that including the Elders, who have been traditionally excluded, has opened the way for them to continue participating post-pandemic: “When COVID-19 reached the communities, our station coordinated with the Elders so that they could share information about the measures to take into account to combat the pandemic.” Messages about wearing masks, hand washing, and social distancing reached people who speak Náhuat, who felt they could trust the information since it came from people in the community.
The efforts to make the Náhuat language more prominent were well received in the communities where the radio stations have coverage. Listeners began to recognize the language and see it as an important and valuable element in the community, including the older generations, who for so long had been conditioned to forget their language and not teach it to the new generations. “Today, the Elders still come to the radio station wanting to share a song, tell a story, or talk about other topics,” members of Sensunat say, adding that it is a great joy for them that the Elders are asking for a space on the radio of their own initiative. At the same time, listeners are enjoying learning new things and are entertained by the knowledge of the Elders.
This experience also allowed Radio Sensunat to strengthen alliances with other Indigenous communities, such as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, which has a number of Náhuat speakers. For the Náhuat communities, radio continues to be an important means of communication since the government treats them as though they were invisible. Having the opportunity to hear and speak their native language allows them to recognize they have a shared history, which strengthens their relationship with one another and helps them fight against community problems.
“I love to speak and sing in Náhuat, because it is the language that our grandparents taught us,” says Antonia Morales (Náhuat), an Elder from the Indigenous community of Santo Domingo de Guzmán who participated in the project. “I am not ashamed to speak Náhuat; on the contrary, I am proud to speak it and teach it to the girls and boys, because it is what my mother taught me, who was one of the precursors of instilling, writing, and singing songs in Náhuat. We are grateful that this radio makes us known so that our culture does not die,” comments Estela Lopez, also from Santo Domingo de Guzman.
Other participants, such as Cecilia Isidro of the movement of Indigenous Unification of Nahuizalco, shared the women’s perspective: “We as young women have sometimes been marginalized for being Indigenous. But by getting involved and participating in spaces that help us to know our identity, it gives us strength to help other young people to safeguard that they also know our origins. We thank Radio Sensunat for giving us the opportunity to participate and make our culture known.”
Mateo Rafael Latín (Náhuat), mayor of the Indigenous community of Izalco, adds, “The truth is that we are tired of so much marginalization and abuse of our culture. We will fight to protect the legacy of our ancestors, and we thank this community radio for opening spaces of participation to defend what our grandfathers and grandmothers taught us.”
Náhuat community members Ligia Aguiñada, Bessi Ramirez, and Jehovany Rodríguez from Radio Sensunat contributed to this article.
Radio Sensunat is a Cultural Survival Indigenous Community Media Fund grant partner.
Top photo: Opening ceremony to celebrate community radio workshops at Radio Sensunat in El Salvador. Photo courtesy of Radio Sensunat.
