About  elf

The Endangered Language Fund
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  • RFP_LL2022
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Who We Are

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Supporting the documentation and revitalization of the world’s endangered languages

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Doug Whalen, ELF Founder, at the Mohegan Wigwam, Uncasville, CT, August, 2003

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About the Fund

ELF is a 501(c)3 founded in 1996 with the goal of supporting endangered language preservation and documentation projects. Our main mechanism for supporting work on endangered languages has been funding grants to individuals, tribes, and museums. ELF’s grants have promoted work in over 60 countries and have funded a wide range of projects, from the development indigenous radio programs in South Dakota, to recording of the last living oral historian of the Shor language of western Siberia, to the establishment of orthographies and literacy materials to be used by endangered language teaching programs all over the world.

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About our logo

The ELF logo incorporates a type of iconographic motif that was used to represent speech in many Mesoamerican murals and bas-relief sculptures. Called “speech-scrolls” by Mesoamericanists (and illustrated to the left), these spiral designs often appear in front of the mouths of important personages in depictions of historical and mythological themes. Speech-scrolls have been found in archeological sites from culturally, chronologically, and geographically disparate cultures. These range from the Chalchihuites culture in the Mexican state of Durango far in the northern Mesoamerican periphery to those in the Mayan areas in the south, as well as in most of the territory in between.

Learn more about the logo

Donate Today!
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What Our Grantees Are Saying:

"The ELF will always remain a part of our collective memory. We thank you and the ELF sincerely for being a part of our effort to save one the richest dialects on this part of the planet."

- Dr. Mite Lingi, Language Legacies Recipient 2015

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  • Home
  • About
    • About ELF
    • People
    • By the Numbers
    • ELF in the News
    • Contact Us
  • Grants
    • Language Legacies
    • Native Voices Endowment
    • Sharing Language Diversity Fellowship
  • Projects
    • Project Spotlight
    • Testimonials
    • Photo Gallery
  • Resources
    • Breath of Life
    • CoLang
    • General Resources
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Give while Shopping
    • Follow and Subscribe
    • Join the ELF Royalty Club
  • RFP_LL2022