Collaborating with an existing team

The best way to get permission to work on an existing language site is to approach and collaborate with the community who started that language site. FirstVoices language sites are established by individual Indigenous organizations, on behalf of one or more communities. Each FirstVoices language site represents a dialect or group of dialects working together. Language Administrators are appointed by the organization at the time the site is established. Language Administrators are responsible for approving member registration requests, reviewing and publishing entries, and other possible tasks associated with managing and maintaining the language site.

You may be able to find a contact form for the Language Administrator of a given language site on their website if they have this feature enabled, usually on their homepage. This form will send directly to the administrator or other primary contact for that language team.

Open

If necessary, you can also make your request via the FirstVoices support team, who will contact the organization of record for the language site on your behalf.

FirstVoices encourages communities to work together in this way as it reduces the workload on individual communities and increases access to language materials. It is important that the FirstVoices team document these extensions of permission. This ensures fairness, consistency, and transparency.

Policy statement

Ideally, language site permissions should be extended from one community to another by an original Language Administrator, as an employee or member of the organization of record. If no original Language Administrator remains as an employee or member of the organization of record, the following options should be exhausted in the following order:

1. Permission extended by a signing authority of the organization of record

2. Permission extended by an original Language Administrator who is no longer an employee or member of the organization of record

3. Permission extended by a community member who is actively involved in the leadership of language revitalization projects

FPCC may not extend language site permissions independently. The extension of permissions must be documented in writing (either through a letter or email) or by signing a copy of this document. The FirstVoices Coordinator will assist in facilitating communications for extended permissions where necessary and/or requested.

In extending permissions to a Language Administrator from a new community, it is understood that the new Language Administrator will have the ability to:

• Approve member registrations and add new FirstVoices team members

• Remove inactive members

• Edit the written content on the language site

• Add, edit, delete and change the visibility of FirstVoices entries

• Change the language site's logo or cover photo

• Edit alphabet characters

In accepting the extension of permissions, it is understood that the new Language Administrator will:

• Consult the existing team when considering substantial changes to the language site (such as publishing a previously unpublished site or changing the logo)

• Not proceed with substantial changes that are not supported by the existing team

• Not extend permissions to an additional community without consulting the existing team

• Understand that the existing team may resume work on the site at any time (without nullifying the extension of permissions)

• Not act with malicious disregard for the work contributed by the previous community