Alongside the InField 2010 workshops at the University of Oregon (see our article  «June 21 – July 30: InField  2010 Workshops »), the NILI (Northwest Indian Language Institute) is putting up two events:

• the 13th edition of their Summer Institute from June 21 to July 2.

• the 17th Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (SILS) from June 25 to 27.

The courses of the Summer Institute will address linguistics of Northwest native american languages, teaching methods, etc.

The symposium aims to :

• Bring together indigenous language educators and activists to share ideas and experiences on how to teach indigenous languages effectively in and out of the classroom.

• Provide a exchange forum for scholar research on the instruction of indigenous languages.

• Spread out recent research and thoughts on best practices to promote, preserve, and protect indigenous languages.

The keynote speeches will be delivered by Patsy Whitefoot, President of the National Indian Education Association, and Leanne Hinton, from the linguistics department of the University of California-Berkley.

Leanne Hinton is a Professor emerita at the University of Californir-Berkeley, and a specialist in native american languages. She is working on the preservation of these languages, and has co-founded « Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival ». She is famous for her Master-Apprentice programme (which enables the transmission of indigenous languages by immersion, through the pairing of a young adult with an elder fluent speaker.), and has received the Cultural Freedom Award from the Lannan Foundation for Cultural Freedom, Diversity and Creativity in 2006.