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Inspiration drawn from the work of Edward Sapir and Mary Haas guides work on the comprehensive documentation of two aboriginal languages of the Americas: Spokane Salish in Washington State and Lacandon Mayan, in Chiapas Mexico. Spokane has received the most attention, beginning with a 1972 Doctoral dissertation A Grammar of Spokane, and continuing with published papers on the sound and word-building systems of the language. Lexicographical work produced a first dictionary in 1989; a second edition is in press. A reference grammar and collection of narrative texts is planned to complement the dictionary. Thirty years of recordings have been made available to the Spokane Tribe and are used as a data base for their language revival program.
Work with Lacandon is being wrapped up, with initial support from the Endangered Language Fund, Yale University and current support from the Volkswagen Foundation Endangered Language Program. Fully annotated digital video and audio recordings collected in the Lacandon village of NaHa will be archived in an electronic database developed by the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen, Holland.