BY: SHANNON BURNS

INDIAN TIME - Vol. 23 #33 - Seskeha / August 18, 2005 Edition - Page 1 & 3

Monica Peters has been working with computers for a very long time. Before most people had ever seen one in the 1980s, Peters was creating robot-like devices and figuring out the inner workings of her father's home computer. Now, she has returned to Akwesasne with her proudest accomplishment: She has created a "bot", or virtual human, that allows anyone to access the Mohawk language at their fingertips, via their computer, cell phone, or other electronic device. At the speed of thought, individuals can see and hear any English phrase spoken and written in Mohawk.

Monigarr - Legacy Corporation, Peters' self-made company, has used complex computer technology to create a system that allows users to type in an English phrase and hear a character on-screen say the phrase back in Mohawk. It will also appear in text on the screen. Aside from being a convenience on your home computer, the system can also be accessed from any equipment that uses a voice box. Remember Billy Baas, the talking fish? Peters has a similar toy, a deer head, hanging on her wall that she simply plugs in to her computer and the deer is instantly able to translate the English words she types into Mohawk.

"I want everyone to be able to see and hear their language," said Peters. The technology she has manipulated can "bring endangered languages back to mainstream."

Peters, a Mohawk herself, knows perfectly well the struggle Akwesasne and other Mohawk communities have had saving their language from extinction. However, she feels that too much time is being spent "preserving" Mohawk instead of using it in mainstream. Her bot allows Mohawk to become a part of day-to-day life.

"I want it to be a living language," Peters said.

Peters is currently running her company out of her Cornwall Island home and is anxious for the project to take off. She has big dreams and big plans, which will include the recruitment of other Mohawks to help. She has had conversations with various community members who have expressed an interest in her company and project but for now she is just working on getting the word out.

To have the Mohawk language available with such speed and accuracy required a lot of computer coding that has made Peters protective of the work she's put in. She wants to offer an affordable option for anyone to learn the language via her system. The Mohawk-talking bot is available for $30 a month, which will give the subscriber unlimited access to Mohawk translations. The subscriber can log on to an internet site for access or program their portable electronic devices to be able to access Mohawk from the grocery store, the movie theatre, or their living room couch.

Peters was able to create the bot, she says, because of the work so many others have done preserving and recording the Mohawk language. The bot is an evolving piece of technology that will change and improve the more people use it.

Peters has made a living by using technology that's already available. Her interest in saving endangered languages is unique and she has created bots similar to the Mohawk one for all sorts of other languages - even dead languages. In 2003, Peters won a bronze medal for "Best Learning Bot" for her Mohawk bot, which she has appropriately named "Onkwehonwehneha", which translates roughly to "Native way of doing artificial intelligence."