Feature summary:
I would like a language code to be created for an Indigenous language: Wolastoqey (colonially known as Malecite-Passamaquoddy). The ISO 693-3 language code is pqm. Its Wikidata item is Q3183144. The script is latin alphabet.
This Indigenous language is spoken in New Brunswick, in Quebec and in Maine. It is said to be "severally endangered" but the language is undergoing a revival thanks to teaching in schools and at the community level, as well as to the creative output of notable artists such as Jeremy Dutcher and Dave Jenniss.
Use case(s):
My colleagues and I want to describe indigenous works in Wolastoqey, including the award-winning album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa. We need this language code for title (P1476) statements.
Benefits:
The Canadian Association for the Performing Arts and the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance have been populating data about Indigenous artists and their works. We are doing our best to portray Wikidata as an inclusive and welcoming knowledge base, and we encourage Indigenous artists and cultural workers to exercise ownership and control about items describing them, their organizations and their works. A missing language code can however send the opposite message: that Wikidata is not for the Indigenous performing arts community. I would very much like to be able to reply playwright and stage director Dave Jenniss that the missing language code for the Wolastoqey was added.