Computing students help to preserve Inuit language

BCIT grad David Leitch wanted to build an app to help preserve the Inuinnaqtun language of the small Inuit hamlet of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, where he now teaches. His young students were eager to preserve their cultural dialect, and community Elders were keen to pass down their knowledge.

Searching for a way to create a prototype, he remembered BCIT Computing roommates, from way back in his dorm days, whom he’d seen working away on some kind of industry project. After a brief search he landed on the Computing Industry Sponsored Student Project (ISSP) page and submitted his idea.

Echo of the North

Enter Computer Systems Technology (CST) Diploma students Catherine Queenan, Eugenie Kim, Amal Allaham, and Soomin Jeong, who have worked on an app for sponsor Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School, under David’s leadership since the beginning of this year.

“Echo of the North is a translation app that preserves voices of the Elders,” explains Soomin.

The original project concept was fairly open-ended. The team started by learning about Inuit culture and the local language and dialects, checking in with the school community and Elders along the way.

“Kangiryuarmiutun is a unique dialect of the Inuinnaqtun language at risk of disappearing with the current generation of Elders,” explains Catherine. “While a written database of the language exists, there is no effective way to preserve its pronunciation, understanding, or real-world usage.”

And access to the existing database is limited, with no integrated learning system. While nearby communities share the language, with some variations, they too lack a translation or learning system. “With each generation knowing less of Inuinnaqtun than the last, the need to protect and revitalize the language has never been more urgent,” emphasizes Catherine.

After presenting their proof-of-concept last month, the team further optimized the app and improved its interface.

Ulukhaktok community Elder Joyce Banksland attended the project demo and told the team: “I’m really thrilled, and very proud of how the project is going.”

An Ever-Expanding Language Learning Model

The app works on both web and mobile, and is the first real-time translation model between English and Inuinnaqtun. “Recordings of Elder pronunciations enable app users to learn directly from the Elders themselves,” says Soomin.

But the team had broader ambitions, including powering the app’s learning through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML). Thus the app includes a trained Large Language Model (LLM) which uses information fed from the in-app database, and larger publications, to learn the vocabulary and context of the language.

Existing LLM models are able to translate between languages at a fluent level. While the database is currently limited, the efforts of the students and community in Ulukhaktok will only continue to improve the understanding of the model.

An application does exist for another Inuit language, and there are multiple groups and organizations working towards similar goals with Inuinnaqtun. “We hope to connect with these groups and share resources and knowledge to take the LLM’s capabilities to the next level,” explains Catherine.

“The app will be able to grow indefinitely, as new translations and corrections are fed into the model,” adds Amal.

Coming together to support roll-out

Interest has been building.

Since the initial story about the collaboration published in CBC last month, and Echo of the North has won second place in last month’s BCIT Student Innovation Challenge Applied Research Category.

Also, thanks to support from Canadian North and BCIT, some of the team members were able to travel to Ulukhaktok to help set up the system, as well as train the school community on how to further build the app.

“With the forceful weather patterns typical of this region, and unpredictable internet access, we decided to deploy via an on-site server to provide the most reliable service,” explains Eugenie. “During our visit we helped further build the app and trained the students in server and app maintenance.”

“The creation of this app is everything that we work hard to do at BCIT: support grads to change the world, to identify a challenge, resolve it, and do it together – we know that together we are stronger,” says BCIT’s Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives & Partnerships, Kory Wilson. “My hands go up to this team for supporting this language and empowering the people to continue speaking the language of their ancestors.”

What’s next?

At the first formal demo of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), project sponsor David Leitch, a BCIT Technology Teacher Education Diploma alumni, said he feels it’s “gone incredibly well.” He’s now created a non-profit organization around the Echo of the North project, and BCIT CST team member Catherine Queenan will become a founding board member.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better team to work with,” says David. “Their expertise and innovation helped expand this project beyond anything I could have possibly hoped for. Echo of the North is now something that is already having a real and meaningful impact on our Inuit culture here, and hopefully can positively affect other culturally sensitive groups.”

Seeing the project roll out, with a plan for further development, BCIT Computing faculty Tejinder Randhawa, who supervised the team, says “I appreciate very much David envisioning this juncture of culture and technology, and engaging our students in developing new pathways where culture and technology could evolve side-by-side, enriching one another.”

Catherine will be working with the community to complete any leftover steps in rollout, and the team hopes to continue working on the app.

“Ultimately we’d love to support its expansion into more communities, and give nearby communities with related dialects a foundation to preserve their own languages.”