Historic Recordings Revitalize Language For Passamaquoddy Tribal Members
A partnership between members of the Passamaquoddy tribe and the Library of Congress to transcribe wax cylinder recordings from 1890 is bringing the tribe's language back to life.
Dwayne Tomah sits at his kitchen table in Perry, Maine, and pulls up an audio file on his computer. When he hits play, the speakers emit a cracked, slightly garbled recording. Through the white noise, Tomah scratches out the words he hears, rewinding every few seconds.
Word by word, Tomah is attempting to transcribe and interpret dozens of recordings of Passamaquoddy tribal members, some of which are only recently being heard and publicly shared for the first time in more than a century.
"I really, I wept.
