Tribal Language : Reviving the Endangered Sora Script(Sompeng) for Future Generations

Tribal Language Soura Sompeng Script Alphabet and Numbers.

Tribal Language: Reviving the Endangered Sora Script for Future Generations

Preserving Indigenous Identity

  Deep in the heart of rural Odisha and Andhra Pradesh resides the Sora tribe - a small indigenous community of around 400,000 clinging passionately to their distinct culture and language. At risk of fading into India's pantheon of lost ethnic groups, the Soras face powerful assimilationist forces eroding the fabric of traditions that lend them a separate identity. However, at the core of Sora heritage lies a unique script called Sorang Sompeng that tied together generations through history. Can reviving this endangered indigenous writing system save the Soras from identity loss in the 21st century?

 The Origins and Significance of the Tribal Language Sora Script(Sorang Sompeng)

 Sorang Sompeng traces back to 1936 when Sora sage Mangei Gomango introduced the script after attaining spiritual awakening. Inherently linked to the tribe's culture, Sorang Sompeng allowed the marginalized Sora people to record religious teachings, disseminate literature and nurture their language against domination from Odia and Telugu tongues. The script rose as a revolutionary tool uplifting literacy, social reform and political unity across Sora villages in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

 At its peak, Sorang Sompeng gained recognition as a sacred writing system associated with the Sora deity Akshara Brahma. Mangei Gomango himself published Sora texts on ethics and spirituality using the innovative script through a letterpress in Gunupur. For the insular Sora society, Sorang Sompeng drove grassroots communication advancing indigenous identity. 

Akhyara Brahma Temple (Temple of Tribal Language)at Marichaguda,Rayagada Odisha

The Steady Decline of Tribal Language Sora Script in Modern Times

 However, from the 1960s onwards, Sorang Sompeng witnessed a slow decline in day-to-day usage. Several socio-cultural disruptions contributed to the script's reducing relevance among new generations of Sora people.

 Christian missionary activity converted much of the Sora population, leading to a movement away from traditional religious practices linked to Sorang Sompeng. Instead, Western evangelists promoted reading the translated Bible using Latin and English scripts. Government schooling also drove adoption of Devanagari and Odia as dominant writing systems.

 Urban displacement of tribes-people further severed transmission pathways for passing indigenous scripts like Sorang Sompeng through community lines. Though most elderly Soras today recognize the script, active proficiency has fallen dramatically outside remote rural pockets. This endangers the continuity of indigenous Sora heritage over time.  

Tribal Language Soura Sompeng in Digital Format

 Harnessing Digital Tools to Resurrect the Sora Script

 Can emerging digital solutions save the Sora script from the brink of extinction? Globalisation exposes marginalized communities to homogenizing pressures that risk minority languages and cultures. However, computing advances also enable indigenous groups to encode heritage writing systems electronically for mass proliferation through digital platforms. 

 Unicode emerged as an encoding standard to represent local scripts digitally alongside English characters and assign them a unique identity across digital media and the internet. Pioneering Sora activist Sony Salima dedicated years to extensive research on getting Sorang Sompeng recognized within the global Unicode standard in 2017. This computational feat engineered the script's integration across digital devices and operating systems.

 Salima also developed an aesthetic Unicode Sora font increasing the typeface options available to users beyond barebone encodings. Such digital reconstruction bellows fresh life into minority scripts sunken by years of official neglect and places them on par with major languages dominating the web. Reviving the Sora script digitally expands its visibility and competitiveness against better-funded Latin and Devanagari rivals in the social media age.

Sora Sompeng as Form of OM

Grassroots Campaigns to Spread Everyday Usage among Youth

 More than technological aids, promoting endangered scripts like Sorang Sompeng relies critically on community-led efforts to instill value within its cultural context. Young Sora advocates like Krishna Shabar and Ronit Shabar lead seminars teaching indigenous youth the basics of the Sora script across remote villages where the language thrives.

 Their Sora Shikshak Yuva Organization frames script learning within traditional storytelling, songs and crafts that resonate locally with students from their background. Such vernacular transmission networks bone community pride in protecting the Sora linguistic identity against global homogenization. It inspires local ownership from new learners invested in carrying their heritage forward as a marker of ethnic dignity. 

Statue of Guru Mangei Gomango

 State and Constitutional Support Essential for Linguistic Pluralism

 However, grassroots campaigns to resurrect minority scripts like Sorang Sompeng require institutional scaffolding through official state policies and recognition. India's extraordinary linguistic diversity must translate into equitable promotion of all linguistic communities, however small, as equal stakeholders united within a plural fabric. 

 With over 22 languages constitutionally upheld across various states, our national charter rightfully safeguards linguistic pluralism. However, indigenous scripts with relatively fewer native speakers often get excluded from administrative platforms vital for visibility. Sorang Sompeng lacks official documentation across civic records, signboards, school instruction which further propels its decline. State efforts to integrate local scripts within digital databases, formal education and public display are necessary to prevent the cultural decay of unrecognized writing systems over generations. They uphold the egalitarian principles underlying the world's most diverse democracy.

   Photo of Mangei Gomango,Father of Soura Sompeng

 Lessons from an Obscure Script’s Digital Renaissance

 The Sora script's arduous journey once threatened by fading relevance has taken an unexpected turn towards potential resurrection in the digital communication era. Its computational encoding promises to launch this tribal heritage showcase globally on internet platforms frequently hostile to indigenous cultures. Sorang Sompeng provides a fascinating case study of how tools of modernity like Unicode may counter forces of globalisation endangering cultural diversity worldwide.

 The themes likely resonate across marginalized language communities struggling to perpetuate their linguistic identity and native scripts against more prominent cousins. Digital media spurs unpredictable opportunities to save indigenous expression by propelling local scripts onto cyberspace through careful encoding. For minority cultures on brink of structural collapse, their digital rebirth may spark unexpected preservation from teaming web networks.

 Yet Sorang Sompeng’s legacy illustrates ultimately technology alone cannot resurrect a script without urgent community custodianship. From Sora activists campaigning in remote hill settlements to student volunteers spreading scripture through grassroots education, the script’s fate hinges profoundly on its cultural internalization. By encoding heritage treasures once condemned as irrelevant, globalisation comes full circle to sustain diversity instead of displacing cultures. And in that profound shift resides hope - of a tribe rediscovering its voice, a timeless script finding new breath, and young inheritors redeeming their identity.