This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Indrek Park on antropoloog ja keeleteadlane, kelle süda kuulub väikeste hääbumisohus olevate Põhja-Ameerika indiaanihõimude keeltele.

Kauged maad ja keeled on Indrekut huvitanud maast madalast – esimesed välitööd viisid teda Siberi põhjapõdrakasvatajate juurde juba keskkoolis. Pärast Tartu Ülikooli ajalooõpinguid asus Indrek Hiinas hiina ja tiibeti keelt õppima, seejärel astus tugeva tiibeti keele uurimissuunaga Indiana ülikooli doktorantuuri, kuid seal avastas enda jaoks hoopis ohustatud indiaani keeled.

Doktoritöö jaoks elas Indrek kaks aastat väikese hõimu hidatsade reservaadis, et nende keelt kaardistada. Põhjalike välitööde tulemusel pole Indrek mitte ainult hõimu poolt adopteeritud kui nende vend, vaid tal on hidatsa keele sõnaraamatu näol ka midagi neile tagasi anda.

Indreku uurimistööde tulemused ei ole olulised üksnes keeleteadlastele, vaid ka hõimudele endile – näiteks on Indrek aidanud välja arendada lakota keele õppimissüsteemi, mida kasutatakse kohalikus koolis.

Indrek Park is an anthropologist and linguist whose heart belongs to the dying languages of the small Native American tribes in North America.

Distant countries and languages have interested Indrek for many years. In high school, one of his first fieldworks led him to reindeer farms in Siberia. After history studies at the University of Tartu, Indrek began studying Chinese and Tibetan in China and after that continued his PhD studies at Indiana University Bloomington, initially majoring in Tibetan Studies. There he also discovered the dying languages of the small Native American tribes.

For his PhD, he ended up living for two years with a little tribe called the Hidatsa to map their language. As a result of his in-depth research, Indrek was adopted by the tribe as their brother and he produced the Hidatsa language dictionary.

The outcome of Indrek’s research is not only important to linguists but also for the tribes. For example, Indrek helped develop a language-learning system for the Lakota language, which is used in their school.

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