Revitalization projects for the ulwa language

Abstract

Ulwa was the dominant language in an area stretching from the interior of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region to the present departments of Chontales, Boaco and Matagalpa. About fifteen thousand people were native speakers of ulwa in the precolonial times. The persecutions of the mestizos forced the ulwa to leave the interior zones of Nicaragua and move to the closer regions of the Caribbean Coast where six families founded, in 1850, what became the main center of ulwa population: the community of Karawala. At the present time there are 351 speakers of this language. In this article are presented the efforts of the Ulwa committee conformed by indigenous speakers, with the help of professional linguists which have made possible the revitalization of this language.