Indigenous Collections App by Motorola for Language Preservation

Motorola has officially launched its innovative Indigenous Collections app, developed in collaboration with the Rainy Lake Ojibwe community. This mobile application aims to document and safeguard the Ojibwe language alongside essential “stories, landmarks, and family knowledge.” Key contributors to this project include Ojibwe language educator Jason Jones and Dr. Anton Treuer, a respected author and Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University in Minnesota. Users can download the app for free from the Google Play Store. The app is designed to share only culturally significant knowledge that is publicly available.

Dr. Treuer emphasized the importance of the app’s mission to preserve and disseminate Ojibwe narratives: “Storytelling is one of the most powerful methods for sharing language, cultural wisdom, perspectives, and historical context. The existing collection already serves as a valuable archive, and the future inclusion of additional stories will enhance the project’s long-lasting impact.”

This initiative is part of Motorola’s larger Indigenous Languages Initiative, which partners with the Lenovo Foundation. Together, they work with indigenous communities to digitize and protect their languages while integrating these languages into modern smartphone technology, making it more accessible to indigenous speakers.