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PALM SPRINGS, California – 
November 13, 2024 

The National Breath of Life Archival Institute of Indigenous Languages was awarded the 2024 International Guardians of Culture and Lifeways Language Program Institutional Excellence Award by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums (ATALM) for contributing to “the vitality and cultural sovereignty” of tribal nations through its apprenticeship program. 

Daryl Baldwin, co-director of National Breath of Life, accepted the award on November 13, 2024, at the International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums in Palm Springs, California. 

Among the 1,200 conference attendees were staff from the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Myaamia Center, the institutional home of National Breath of Life. The  — a research-focused collaboration between ºÚÁÏÉçÇø and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma — focuses on language and cultural revitalization for the Miami Tribe and supports the activities of National BoL. 

Since 2011, the Myaamia Center has shared resources and technology, including the , with 141 tribal representatives from 65 language communities engaged in archives-based language revitalization efforts through National Breath of Life programming. 

ATALM is an international non-profit organization that maintains a network of support for Indigenous programs, provides culturally relevant programming and services, encourages collaboration among tribal and non-tribal cultural institutions, and articulates contemporary issues related to developing and sustaining the cultural sovereignty of Native Nations.

History and Award Categories: 
Established in 2007, the Guardians of Culture and Lifeways Awards honor and recognize Native organizations and individuals who contribute to the vitality and cultural sovereignty of Native Nations. 

The Language Program Institutional Excellence Award recognizes indigenous language programs that work with libraries, archives, and museums to incorporate language into cultural programming, thereby enabling these institutions to support language revitalization.

For media inquiries, please contact Stella Beerman: beermaej@miamioh.edu 

Learn more: 
Myaamia Center