Indigenous Story Guardian:

AI-Powered Language Preservation

Help Us Save Endangered Indigenous Languages Through Interactive Learning

Every 40 days, another Indigenous language disappears forever. With each loss, we lose centuries of cultural wisdom, stories, and traditions. But together, we can change this.

The Indigenous Story Guardian project is creating an innovative solution: AI-powered animated tutors that help Indigenous youth connect with their ancestral languages through storytelling. By combining cutting-edge technology with traditional knowledge, we’re building a bridge between generations and preserving crucial cultural heritage.

Why This Matters

43% of the world’s 6,000 languages are at risk of extinction. Most of these are Indigenous languages that carry irreplaceable cultural knowledge. When a language dies, we don’t just lose words – we lose entire ways of seeing and understanding the world.

Indigenous storytelling has traditionally been the heart of cultural transmission, passing wisdom from generation to generation. Our project honors this tradition while embracing modern technology to engage young learners.

Our Solution

We’re developing an interactive AI tutor that:

• Creates an immersive learning experience through culturally-respectful animation
• Adapts to each learner’s progress and needs
• Preserves traditional stories and teaching methods
• Is built WITH Indigenous communities, not just FOR them
• Can be customized for different languages and cultural contexts

The Technology Behind It

Our team combines Indigenous knowledge holders with experts in:

• Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing
• Indigenous language preservation
• Educational technology and curriculum design
• Cultural preservation and community engagement

We’re raising our first $100,000 from supporters like you

With you support, we can begin bringing communities together and building our technology.

Your Impact

Your contribution will help fund the first phase of our 12-month proof-of-concept development, including:

• Community-based research and consultation
• Language model development
• Educational curriculum development

The Team

Our project brings together:

• Johnston Research Inc. – Indigenous-led research and community engagement
  [Andrea L.K. Johnson, Brandon Fowler, Brighton Minogamiing Johnston]
• Pure & Applied Group – Learning design and curriculum development
  [Roxanne Desforges, Nikitasha Kapoor, Natasha Kapoor]
• Aggregate Intelligence – AI engineering
  [Amir Feizpour]
• Arctic AI – Educational AI
  ​[Colum Elliott-Kelly]
• Big Head AI – Operations
  [John Knechtel]

Other Ways You Can Help

The most important way you can help the project is to connect us with more potential supporters by:

• Getting the word out and making some noise about the campaign.
• Using the Indiegogo share tools to build momentum!