Does preserving indigenous languages freeze cultures in time?
I volunteer at a local history museum, and lately I've been wondering if anthropology's push to preserve indigenous languages actually saves communities or just freezes them in time. We spend grant money recording elders and building apps, but the young people I talk to prefer English because it gets them jobs and connects them globally. Maybe language death is a natural part of cultural evolution, not a tragedy to reverse. Is it ethical to intervene when a community itself seems to choose assimilation?