A longevity estimate of the Cheyenne language in 1996 showed that Cheyenne speakers under 40 years of age were rare. Now almost 10 years later, those speakers are nearing 50 years of age; in 30 years they will be nearly 80 years old, an age that few Cheyennes reach. The language will be near death unless effective means are found to document and sustain it. This project will digitize, preserve, and provide wider access to documentary materials, including those previously collected, that concern the endangered Cheyenne language. Interviews with elders and other key people will be conducted, and then recorded in digital audio and video formats. Fluent Cheyenne speakers who are over 60 years of age will be interviewed first. Three Cheyenne-speaking information gatherers will obtain interviews in the Cheyenne language, transcribe them and preserve them in digital audio and video formats. The interviews will be analyzed for linguistic and historic content so that they can be used for curriculum development to teach the Cheyenne language and culture. The originals will be archived at the nearby Gatchell Museum in Buffalo, Wyoming.
