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About SAIVUS Founded in 2008, SAIVUS ("save us") is an online organization that teaches Native American languages currently spoken within the United States. "Native Americans" are the aboriginal peoples of the Americas, otherwise known as "American Indians" or "First Nations." Legally, this term also applies to Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians, who have separate origins but share a similar history. Each year, fewer and fewer native people learn their ancestral languages fluently, and over the next century more than half of some three hundred Native American languages are expected to die. Several factors have historically contributed to their decline, but today one of the largest obstacles native language revitalization efforts face is a lack of quality educational materials. SAIVUS was established to provide comprehensive grammar tutorials, word lists, practice exercises and other materials vital to modern language survival and health. Not only are these materials completely cost-free, they can also be printed out and distributed to people without internet access. Through providing this service, we are offering native people the same opportunity that majority groups have enjoyed for decades: the chance to study their languages academically, without requiring high-priced tuition fees or even the cost of a textbook.

Our Name SAIVUS, pronounced like the phrase "save us," stands for Society to Advance Indigenous Vernaculars of the United States. Everyone who uses our online tutorials constitutes the "Society" part, and by "Advance" we basically mean "help to prosper." "Indigenous Vernacular" is the technical term for a language that is spoken by the original inhabitants of a colonized region; such as the United States.

Our Policy SAIVUS publishes language resources in order to help Native American people acquire and maintain speaking ability of their languages. However, it our policy never to publish language resources if the majority of the native group pertaining to that language are opposed. We recognize that a Native American language is the intellectual property of the native group that has historically spoken it. SAIVUS takes precautions in order to insure that we publish language resources only if those materials will benefit the native group pertaining to that language. Before language resources are published, we coordinate with cultural centers and top academic professionals in order to anticipate the degree of positive or negative public response. If it is predicted that the native group pertaining to a language would predominately oppose the creation of language resources, SAIVUS will refrain from publishing them. Even if we have already published resources for a language, we will take those materials offline if their existence becomes detrimental to the native group pertaining to that language. In addition, SAIVUS announces our prospective language projects several months in advance, giving individuals a chance to express their predictions and concerns. Please send all emails to webmaster@saivus.org.