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This paper describes problems andpractices related to the inherent conflict between future-oriented linguistics äs scientific research and past-oriented linguistics äs language preservation, äs relevant tofieldwork in endangered language communities. It focuses on the tension between the past, äs embodied in languages that are currently endangered and the cultures that they represent, and the future — what we can and should do, äs linguists, scholars, and humans at the dawn of a new Century, in order to continue to learn about linguistic structure and Variation. The concept of preserving a language äs a means of "giving back t o the Community" is examined.
Examples from sociolinguistic and descriptive fieldwork research projects (particularly my own experience äs a sociolinguist who conducts fieldwork in Faetar, an endangered language, and isproducing a descriptive grammar) are discussed, and the necessity ofdrawing connections between a variety of fields is highlighted.
