Chasing Voices

By Jennifer Robinson / Web Producer

Published November 24, 2021 at 12:12 PM PST

J. P. Harrington posing with three Cuna (Tule) people while making Dictaphone recordings of Cuna language and songs, 1924. [BAE GN 4305 A, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.]

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023 on KPBS 2 / Stream now with KPBS Passport!

From 1907 until his death more than 50 years later, ethnologist John Peabody Harrington crisscrossed the U.S., chasing the voices of the last speakers of Native America's dying languages. Moving from one tribal community to the next, he collaborated with the last speakers to document every finite detail before their languages were lost forever.

Chasing Voices: The Story of John P. Harrington: Trailer

"Chasing Voices" chronicles Harrington’s work and traces the impact of his exhaustive research on Native communities working to restore the language of their ancestors.

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Ernestine DeSoto and Her Granddaughter Regina speak on learning their native language of Chumash as a way to stay connected at the AICLS “Breath of Life" conference.

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This film is available to stream with KPBS Passport, a member benefit that unlocks exclusive shows and extra content on the PBS App.

Credits: Producer/ Director: Daniel Golding. Presented by Vision Maker Media and Hokan Media LLC. Distributed by American Public Television.

Chasing Voices

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