Reviving A Dying Tongue: Literature and Empowerment As Tools for Safeguarding the Kusunda Language of Nepal

Abstract
In the heart of Nepal, the Kusunda language anisolate with no known relatives teeters on the brink of extinction, with only one fluent speaker alive today. The Kusunda, also known as Mjehaq or Gemjehaq (“The Kings of the Forests”), are an Indigenous group whose oral traditions and linguistic heritage have been severely endangered by displacement, intermarriage, and assimilation.This paper explores Safeguarding the Kusunda Language and Culture (2024), an initiative by Archive Nepal supported by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund. The 9 months project employs literature and youth empowerment as tools for language revitalization and intergenerational transmission.Key outcomes include the creation of the first ever literature book in Kusunda language titled Pinda (The First), translation of ten children’s books, production of eleven audiobooks, and the development of a free, comprehensive online language course. An advanced creative writing workshop also trained young Kusunda participants as future instructors and storytellers.The study positions language preservation not merely as a linguistic project, but as a dynamic process of community engagement and empowerment. By centering Indigenous voices and lived experiences, the project reimagines archives as active spaces for cultural resilience and collective renewal. The Kusunda case, in particular, urges us to confront a profound question: What does it truly mean to preserve a language when only one fluent speaker remains? Keywords - Indigenous languages, Kusunda, cultural regeneration, language preservation, community empowerment, literature-based revitalization