About the UK Community of Practice Knowledge Production Series
This essay is part of the Liberatory Archives and Memory (LAMy) UK Community of Practice knowledge production series. Together, memory workers, artists, and archivists share reflections, research, and creative practices that reimagine archives as living, collective spaces of resistance, healing, and liberation.
By Dr. Tola Dabiri
Introduction: Conversations about Mothers
During the Liberatory, Archives and Memory Convening in Brighton in April 2025, I was struck by the number of references to mothers, their languages and stories mentioned in the group discussions, as well as reflective memories about participants’ conversations with their mothers shared during presentations and lightening talks. These references seemed to be a literal representation of our ‘Mother Tongue’, demonstrating the importance of language and memory.
When we talk about a ‘Mother Tongue’, it means more than just our first language, our ‘mother tongue’ is also the language of our mothers, our families and the language of our cultural heritage. It can also be the language which is used to preserve and transmit intangible cultural heritage through generations, migrations and diaspora experiences.
However, there is an alarming decline in the number of global languages and indigenous dialects being spoken and even fewer being used to disseminate information or used in published works. This crisis has been recognised by UNESCO and declared 2022 to 2032 as the Indigenous Languages Decade and is promoting safeguarding initiatives to protect indigenous languages.1
Global Changes in Language Diversity
Conversely, UK and American English, Spanish, Mandarin and Hindi languages continue to dominate written and spoken global communication, with English being the most popular language for book publishing and information production.2 Therefore, knowledge of English is essential to access the information sources and discourses which are produced globally.
The impact of the dominance of English in particular, and this disparity of language use, continues to have a devastating and devaluing impact on the indigenous languages of the world. It also weakens our ability to preserve, transmit and access cultural heritage and memories.
Examples of Language Loss, Preservation and Safeguarding
One example of this is the French Creole or Patois, which was once spoken all over the Caribbean by the descendants of enslaved Africans. Linguistically patois is a mixture of many African, European, Arawak and Kalinago languages, and the exact composition of the languages changed across the region depending on enslaved, planter and indigenous populations of the time.3 Once spoken everywhere, patois has almost died out on many islands, including Grenada and Carriacou. During the 1960s and 1970s, the elders used Patois as a secret language, and did not teach it to their children and grandchildren. As a result, the language, and the access to the memories stored in patois, has been almost lost to many. Big Drum and Nation Dance are important examples of the intangible cultural heritage of the Africans once enslaved on Carriacou. The dances and drumming patterns of 13 African nations are preserved, transmitted and performed on the island, along with traditional songs performed by chanteuse. However, many of the songs are in patois, and as very few people now speak or understand the language, the meaning and connection with the ancestors has been lost, along with the information contained in many of the songs. Edwina Ashie-Nikoi (2007)4 identified food advice for newly arrived enslaved Africans, and stories about destruction and resistance by the enslaved on the Belmont estate. Big Drum songs act as invaluable historical records, giving access to the lives and experiences of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean over three centuries ago. However, without greater understanding of patois, these records will remain incomplete.
A more hopeful example of preservation of language and cultural heritage can be found in Georgia, USA. Amelia Dawley’s Gullah Geechee and Senehun Ngola song, was first recorded in 1933 by Lorenzo Dow Turner. Dawley didn’t understand the language of the song or its content, but sang the words as it had been preserved by her family.5 A field research trip to Senehun Ngola (Sierra Leone) by Schmidt, Opala and Koroma in 1990 found Biandu Jibati, who also knew the Dawley song. Despite the physical separation from their heritage and homeland, the Dawleys had preserved their identity through the language and the song.
Hope for the Future: Educational and Legislative Interventions
However, safeguarding can work, as can be seen in the triumphant reassertion of the Welsh language in the UK, after almost facing near extinction in the 1970s. With the support of the Welsh Language Act (1993), it is now the first language (or mother tongue) of many people, taught in schools, and used in all government and administrative departments. In Grenada, French Creole classes are being held and a textbook has been written for children in schools by Dr Marguerite Joseph and the French Creole society. And so, there are reasons for optimism for the success of the UNESCO initiative.
Concluding Reflections
Our mother tongues allow us to control our own narratives and our own interpretation of our histories, which is essential if we are to effectively resist the encroachment of predatory technologies which reinforce existing inaccurate, Eurocentric and Western versions of global histories. Our mother tongue grants us access to our memories and ancestors, and most importantly our sense of belonging.
As Winston Relaford (a Dawley family member) said when discussing the importance of preserved Mende song with Dawley family of the Gullah Geechee community:
‘[it] solidifies my identity because I know where I came from…
I know who I am’
Winston’s poignant words reflect the views and experiences of many.
Our Mother Tongues tell us all who we are.
Dr Tola Dabiri is a consultant in the cultural sector, and an academic. Tola has a particular research focus of orality, intangible cultural heritage and British Caribbean Carnival.
Footnotes
- https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages
- https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/most-spoken-language/
- https://www.steelpanconference.com/volume-5
- Ashie -Nokoi, E., (2007), Beating the Pen on the Drum: A Socio-cultural History of Carriacou, Grenada 1750 – 1920. [Doctoral thesis]. New York: New York University.
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-memory-of-a-song-reunited-two-women-separated-by-the-trans-atlantic-slave-trade-180983864/