I forgot my username and/or my password.

Your username is your email address. If you forgot your password, you can click here on a desktop device and enter your email address to reset it.

What is FirstVoices?

You can find a basic description of our program on our Knowledge Base (What is FirstVoices?) or on the FPCC Website by clicking here. 

Can I use content from FirstVoices?

Permission for use of any content on FirstVoices language sites must be obtained from the originating community. The reason for this process is that the information uploaded to FirstVoices language sites remain the property of the originating community. First Peoples' Cultural Council and FirstVoices have no claim to the traditional knowledge of any peoples who upload information to our platform. This process is designed to reinforce and respect data sovereignty and traditional ways of knowing and learning.

As such, we cannot grant permission for use of recordings. This can only be granted by the community who uploaded the recordings. In this instance, you need to contact the Language Administrator for the language site you are interested in. More information can be found here: Who owns the language recordings?

How do I suggest content to add to FirstVoices?

The content of language sites hosted on FirstVoices is owned and maintained by each of the councils and language teams described on their 'About our Language’ page.

If you would like to suggest content or enquire about a specific language feel free to contact the team for that language directly (their contact information should be found on their ‘About our Language’ page).

I have a suggestion for how to make FirstVoices better!

We are always trying to improve FirstVoices and we really value your comments and suggestions; please email hello@firstvoices.com with your idea.

I am not a community member, can I still join a language site?

Registering to become a member of a language site is only permitted for members of that language community. That said, most content for the languages on FirstVoices is already available to everyone without registration. If the community has decided to make words and phrases public they will already be available to you by going to the Explore Languages page (https://www.firstvoices.com/languages/) and navigating to whichever languages you're interested in learning more about.

How do I download a FirstVoices keyboard?

We have a video with instructions on how to download your language keyboard; if you’re working on a Mac computer, please follow along with the first video whereas if you’re working on a PC computer, please follow along with the second video: How do I install a keyboard for my language?

If you need further support, please email hello@firstvoices.com

I found a bug/problem with FirstVoices, what do I do?

We really appreciate you letting us know about the issue; please send us a message by clicking here, or email hello@firstvoices.com with more information about the issue including the following details:

• The type of computer you are using (Mac or PC) or model of phone you are using (e.g. iPhone 6s, Samsung Galaxy S9)

• The operating system version you are on (e.g. iOS 12.3.1)

• The browser you are using (e.g. Safari, Chrome)

I found a bug/problem with a FirstVoices keyboard, what do I do?

We really appreciate you letting us know about the issue; please send us a message by clicking here, or email hello@firstvoices.com with more information about the issue as well as the following details:

• Which keyboard you are using

• The type of computer you are using (Mac or PC) or model of phone you are using (e.g. iPhone 6s, Samsung Galaxy S9)

• The software version you are on (e.g. iOS 12.3.1)

I would like to start a language site, but I'm not based in British Columbia.

While we primarily serve British Columbia-based First Nations, we are open to collaborating with communities outside of BC. Limited funds do sometimes restrict the amount of support that we are able to provide. Whether or not we can meet your needs depends largely on the outcomes you would like for your project and how much support you would need to meet your goals. Please email james@fpcc.ca for more information.

Where can I get images for entries?

To find images to use that you haven’t created yourself, we recommend that you visit Wikimedia Commons (click here to access). That said, we highly recommend that you use community-sourced images. Whether they be photographs, drawings or other community-created images, this is a great way for community members to get involved with your FirstVoices language site.

Note: If you are uploading any content onto FirstVoices that isn’t your own, copyright law requires you to properly credit whoever owns the content, even if the content is open source or royalty-free. This applies to any image, video, audio recording or other material. Click here for information about copyright and how to credit.

How do I add subtitles to a video?

Click here for a step by step outline of how to create a subtitle file (on either Windows or macOS) and then how to add it to a video using VLC or Handbrake (both VLC and Handbrake are free applications that you can download).

Click here to learn how to add a subtitle file to a video on YouTube.

What kind of equipment should I purchase?

This is a link to our audio equipment buyer's guide: Learn about audio recording equipment

The work required of a computer when editing audio and uploading to FirstVoices isn't especially demanding so really any model of laptop that was released in the past couple of years would be sufficient. You will likely need 500GB of storage space either on the laptop or on an external hard drive.

Mac computers are our preference for usability and reliability, but they are a little pricey. Any current Windows computer, such as a Lenovo or a Dell, would also be fine.

I am a language admin, and someone has requested to join my language site. What should I do?

As the administrator for the site, it is your role to moderate these requests. Approving the request will allow the user to view Members-only content on the site, or even Team-only content on the site, depending on the role you choose to give them.

• Read about the different roles on FirstVoices (Language Administrator, Editor, Assistant, Member)

• Read instructions for how to approve or ignore the request

If you don't recognize their name, we would recommend adding them to the Member group or ignoring the request.