| Summary: | This article discusses the development of integrated multilingual Web databases to help the preservation of the Native American language East Cree. The creation of digital online resources for threatened aboriginal languages presents many technical, educational and ethical challenges. We focus here on the technical challenges in order to discuss both the problems encountered in this particular context, and the solutions we have considered and explored. We illustrate our discussion with examples from an Oral Stories Database we developed in collaboration with Cree education consultants and speakers in 2002-04. We advocate an approach that includes fast-prototyping, open-source development, and design for the database engine that balances speed, availability, features, and resources. We discuss the impact the combination of this technical approach and the participatory action research method is having on language maintenance.
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