Abstract
This chapter explores political and cultural dimensions of indigenous experiences, focusing in particular on linguistic practices, ideology, and diversity. More specifically, it discusses how indigenousness has operated as a transnational identity in the context of global political decolonization movements, as well as in regional, nation, and community contexts, for example in tensions between nationalist or multiculturalist nation-states and indigenous communities, as well as within indigenous communities. It examines the ways in which sociolinguistic and linguistic changes in indigenous communities have conditioned as well as have been led by indigenous language documentation and planning efforts. In particular, it highlights ways in which research paradigms have shifted over time from missionary, colonial, and modern linguistic language descriptions to more ethnographically grounded, dynamic, and forward-looking projects of indigenous language and culture documentation and education. It also discusses various challenges involved in sustaining indigenous languages and privileging indigenous voices and knowledge.
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