Keep Talking follows four Alaska Native women fighting to save Kodiak Alutiiq, an endangered language now spoken by less than 40 remaining fluent Native Elders. Their small community travels to remote Afognak Island to start teaching kids Alutiiq. Sadie, 13, is inspired to begin learning the language and dances of her ancestors. Instead of getting swept up in the wake of historical trauma, these women overcome personal demons and build toward a brighter future. Keep Talking reveals the ultimate impact of language and culture revitalization; joy and hope.
Keep Talking asks fundamental questions about the impact of language as it relates to historical trauma, healing, community and identity. When a language dies, that worldview is essentially erased from the collective lexicon of human thought. It is up to each of us to decide how we feel about this, as languages are dying off at an unprecedented rate. Globally, UNESCO estimates that one language dies every two weeks.
“The 20th century, 300 years from now, is not going to be remembered for its wars or its technological innovations, but rather as the era in which we stood by and either actively endorsed or passively accepted the massive destruction of both biological and cultural diversity on the planet.”
– Wade Davis, Anthropologist
Historical trauma manifests in the main film subjects lives in different ways: Alutiiq teachers Candace and Marya struggle with a wild past which included substance abuse, Lynda escapes a domestic abuse situation, and April confronts the current suicide crisis in Native communities. Young Sadie parallels her struggles with bullies in school as a new iteration of the discrimination, shame and trauma the Elders faced in their boarding school experience.
Keep Talking follows the story of these four women – Candace, Marya, Lynda, and Sadie – as they take on the mantle of culture bearers in the face of uncertainty and foreseeable loss.
