News

Online Websymposium Series 2021

This online Zoom series of presentations by various practitioners in the field started in 2021 and ILI was so excited to share with so many of you information helpful for your work. If you were unable to attend these webinars, you can review them on our YouTube Channel. 2021 Websymposium Playlist on YouTube. Presentations and links are provided below.

• January 23, 2021, Tips for Effective Online Language Instruction by Christopher Harvey and Damian Webster. Click here for YouTube Link.
• February 24, 2021, Instructing Native Language Online to Develop Speaking Skills by Christopher Harvey and Damian Webster. Click here for YouTube Link. For Damian’s iPad demo click here.
• May 26, 2021, Intonation and the Musicality of Sound in Anishinaabemowing and Nehiyawewin, and Evolving Strategies Within Indigenous Language Revitalization Efforts by Christi Belcourt. Click here for YouTube Link.
• June 23, 202, Learning Indigenous Languages through Roleplaying by Aandeg Muldrew. Click here for YouTube Link.
• July 29, 2021, Language is Medicine: Our Relational Journey by Rosa Francour. Click here for YouTube Link.
• September 2, 2021, Teaching and Learning on the Ground by Gerald Hill. Click here for YouTube Link.
• October 8, 2021, How do We do this? Who will come? – A Virtual Language Learning “Family Affair” by Sheilah Nicholas. Click here for YouTube Link.
• October 28, 2021, Making Mistakes: Adult Second Language Learning by Adikoons Hayley Olson and Ziibiins Alexandra Johnson. Click here for YouTube Link.

We will continue this series in the later part of 2022 and into 2023.

Until our next updates, please stayed tuned and stay safe and healthy!

Warmest regards,

Inée Y Slaughter, Executive Director

Dear Friends of Indigenous Language Institute,

The first half of 2022 was filled with new news for ILI.

ILI Board of Directors

Gerald (Jerry) Hill, President of the Board of Directors, stepped aside from this position in April, having served as ILI’s Board member since 1999 and as President of the Board since 2001. He continues to be a vital member of the Board, guiding the organizations course. We are most grateful for his enduring commitment and hands-on service to ILI’s mission throughout the years. At his home community of Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Jerry serves as Supervising Attorney for the Legal Resource Center, and he continues to work on the Oneida language.

The Board elected Richard Littlebear (Northern Cheyenne Nation) as the new President. To view his bio click here.

ILI has two new Board members.

Elyssa Sierra Concha (Lakota/Anishnaabe/Taos). To view her bio click here.

Leslie Harper (Leech Lake Ojibwe). To view her bio click here.

ILI’s Move

ILI has moved out of the U-Building of the Santa Fe Indian School campus. The school needed the building for more classrooms so we could not renew the lease.

Staff will work remotely from our home offices until further notice. The 2020 lockdown due to the pandemic has been an opportunity to fine-tune this new mode of work. Our new address is: PO Box 742, Santa Cruz, New Mexico 87567-0742.

Language Training Workshops

Since 2021, ILI has conducted language training workshops for several communities via ZOOM. As we navigate the technical aspects of online methods of trainings, we are learning how useful these technology tools are. Despite its limitations, we have learned so much about how to engage “online communities” in language learning and instructing. ILI will not hold in-person large gatherings for the rest of 2022.  All going well with the COVID issues, we plan to resume in-person training workshops in 2023 New Mexico. Communities from across USA and Canada can also invite ILI to come to them for training.

Online Websymposium Series 2022-2023

This online series of presentations by various practitioners in the field started in 2021 and ILI was so excited to share with so many of you information helpful for your work! We will continue this series in 2022 and 2023.

We will keep you posted about our future training workshops.

Until our next updates, please stayed tuned and stay safe and healthy!

Warmest regards,

Inée Y Slaughter, Executive Director

Patricia Ningewance (Lac Seul, Ojibwe of Ontario, Canada) ILI Board Vice President, is teaching the very language the school tried to steal from her when she was a youth. Ningewance and her grandson, Aandeg Muldrew, co-taught an Ojibway language immersion course in May 2019. These courses were taught on the site of the former Shingwauk Indian Residential School, which Ningewance attended when she was 13 years of age. The grandmother and grandson team work to share the Ojibway language with the new generation of Indigenous youth.

To read more visit: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/for-this-grandmother-and-grandson-speaking-ojibway-is-an-act-of-defiance-1.5161990

Wes Studi (Cherokee), Honorary Chair of the National Endowment Campaign, is an actor best known for his leading roles in films including Last of the Mohicans and Geronimo. Mr. Studi is a fluent speaker of the Cherokee language, a former language teacher in his community, and the author of two bilingual Cherokee-English children’s books. He is a national spokesperson for the Indigenous Language Institute and serves on ILI’s National Endowment Campaign.

At the 90th Academy Awards, while introducing a tribute to military movies, Studi gave part of his speech in the Cherokee language.

Wes Studi will be receiving the Academy Honorary Award becoming the first Native American actor to receive this Oscar. Studi will be awarded with the Oscar on October 27, 2019 during the 11th annual Governors Awards.

“I am deeply honored and humbled,” Studi tweeted. “I finally get to say, ‘I’d like to thank the Academy.’ ”

Chris Harvey addresses “Coming Back from the Edge: Bucking the Trend to Endangerment” at the 7th Annual ILI Symposium 2016 – It’s an IMMERSIONCY! The Urgent Need for Conversation is Now! which was held on October 24-26, 2016 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Laura Jagles addresses “How We Carry and Bestow Knowledge” at the 9th Annual ILI Symposium 2018 – Understanding Intergenerational Trauma: The Healing Power of Language which was held on October 22-24, 2018 in New Mexico.

Madison Fulton and Eric Hardy addresses “Historical Trauma and Cultural Resilience: An Indigenous Framework Approach to Empower Language” at the 9th Annual ILI Symposium 2018 – Understanding Intergenerational Trauma: The Healing Power of Language which was held on October 22-24, 2018 in New Mexico.

Panel Discussion: “Learners Overcoming Obstacles” Panelist: Sheilah Nicholas, Richard Littlebear, Christina Otero and Christopher Harvey. Facilitated by ILI Board President, Gerald L. Hill at the 9th Annual ILI Symposium 2018 – Understanding Intergenerational Trauma: The Healing Power of Language which was held on October 22-24, 2018 in New Mexico.

Damian Webster addresses “Evolutionary Second Language Acquisition” at the 9th Annual ILI Symposium 2018 – Understanding Intergenerational Trauma: The Healing Power of Language which was held on October 22-24, 2018 in New Mexico.