Events

Conference Program

Keynote speech

"The Wisdom in Our Language" by Dr. Stacey Oberly

The Wisdom in our Language will explore the wisdom we can learn from the Ute language. The unique challenges of when an Indigenous language, its worldview and the relationship to ourselves and the world is being lost. There are currently less than twenty fluent speakers on the Southern Ute reservation out of a total membership of 1,478. The impacts of this loss extends to the politics of culture, identity, sovereignty and systematic oppression in the Southern Ute community.

Plenary talk

"Plains Indian Sign Language – Indigenous Language Acquisition Method and History" by Dr. Lanny Real Bird

There is an intertribal movement of acquiring traditional languages. The practices of revitalization and renaissance are being complemented by the movements and action-based techniques of learning words and phrases while exercising the motions of the traditional Plains Indian Sign Language. This language has a vast background and served as the primary medium of communication between the western movement and indigenous nations. In this presentation, Dr. Lanny Real Bird will showcase the methods, practice, and reinforcement of language acquisition. These methods are essential for introducing effective teaching techniques for indigenous learners. In this presentation, Real Bird provides a down to earth understanding of indigenous culture and heritage through language, explanation of culture and heritage, and explaining or linking knowledge between the mainstream and native nations in Montana like the Apsaalooke (Crow).

Workshops

How to teach pronunciation using basic linguistics by Dr. Stacey Oberly

This workshop will introduce a few basic linguistics concepts that will enable Native American language teachers to teach pronunciation.  This will be taught through hands-on activities. 

Breaking the ‘comprehension only’ plateau with Group Mentor-Apprentice (GMA) strategies by Dr. Mosiah Bluecloud

In this workshop we will cover GMA basics and learn to create, facilitate, and analyze immersion set activities to help language learners move beyond the ‘comprehension only’ plateau often encountered in language acquisition within tribal communities.

From Realia to Reality: Taking our languages outside the classroom by Dr. Ray Huaute

In this workshop participants will learn how to use realia and other immersion methods to "prime" or "bootstrap" learners in preparation for naturally occuring language use in real world situations.  This hands-on workshop will take place both inside and outside the classroom (weather permitting) in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the method, as well as demonstrate the benefits of taking language learning and use out of the classroom.