Indigenous Language Liberation Conference | April 16, 2025

On April 16th, 2025, a diverse community of scholars of Indigeneity from across the nation convened at the Stanford Graduate School of Education for a day-long conference to engage the topic of Indigenous language revitalization. Over 100 scholars and practitioners attended the conference. Many of these attendees were also current and former Stanford students.

Indigenous language learning has shown positive outcomes for educational and psychological resilience in Indigenous communities. This source of sociocultural resilience is a burgeoning topic of inquiry among scholars trying to understand its underlying mechanisms to appreciate traditional knowledge, re-awaken dormant Indigenous languages, and to proliferate impactful educational and psychological interventions in a context of Indigenous self-determination more fully. It was wonderful to hold this space at the 2025 Stanford Indigenous Language Liberation Conference to spark ideas that further scholarship in this area of research and community engagement and to connect people with each other for collaborations in Indigenous language revitalization.

This event was part of a larger Indigenous language revitalization effort, followed by a two-day Diné Bizaad (Navajo Language) convening on the Stanford campus for a workshop by Distinguished Professor Tiffany Lee of the University of New Mexico. A number of members from the Duckwater Shoshone, Ely Shoshone, and Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation were in attendance at the Indigenous Language Liberation Conference and were part of a collaborative meeting with key Indigenous language scholars, including distinguished Professor Teresa McCarty of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Please click links for conference videos (listed below), the conference program, white paper that served as a rationale for the event, and literature repository of scholarship in the area of Indigenous language revitalization.

• Opening and Panel 1: "My Children are Thriving Here and also Our Family": The Promise of Indigenous Language Immersion Schooling for Holistic Wellbeing by Teresa McCarty, Sheilah Nicholas, Tiffany Lee, Thomas Jacobson, and James McKenzie
• Panel 2: Saad K’ídilyé Diné Language Nest: Supporting Diné Language Learning and Wellbeing for Diné Children and Families by Tiffany Lee (Moderator), Warlance Chee, Cheryl Yazzie, and Melvatha Chee
• Panel 3: Findings from Research and Applications of Research on Indigenous Language Learning in Children and Adolescents by Monica Tsethlikai, Alexis Merculief, Melissa Lewis, & Trisha Moquino
• Panel 4: Psychological Impact of Indigenous Language Use by Alberta Arviso, Miigis Gonzalez, and Haley Shea.
• Panel 5: Indigenous Language Revitalization/Use Projects and Practices of Stanford Alumni by Foster Cournoyer Hogan (Moderator_Late fill-in for Delphine Red Shirt), Kayla Carpenter Begay, Keegan Livermore, Ryan Duncan, & Elsie DuBray
• Workshop (and Closing Comments): The Art of Language Revitalization by Beth Piatote

Indigenous language scholars in collaboration with Distinguished UCLA Professor, Teresa McCarty, present their findings from a mixed-method, multi-site U.S. wide study of Indigenous-language immersion schooling. (Left to right, James McKenzie [Doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona], Tiffany Lee [Distinguished Professor at the University of New Mexico], Teresa McCarty [center], Sheilah Nicholas [Professor at University of Arizona], and Thomas Jacobson [Research analyst at UCLA].)

Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, Beth Piatote, presents a workshop on strategies of language play to support Indigenous language revitalization.