Faculty & Staff:
Those involved with NILI come from a variety of backgrounds and specialize in a variety of areas including:
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NILI Staff:
Dr. Janne Underriner
Director, Northwest Indian Language Institute
Janne Underriner is the director of the Northwest Indian Language Institute. She has been active with language preservation issues in the Northwest since 1996 when she began working with Elders in the Klamath Tribes’ language project developing curriculum and teaching materials for their community and schools. She co-founded the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) in 1997. Underriner assists the tribes in developing language programs and writing curriculum, assessment and teaching materials. She worked with the Tribes to develop the NW Indian Language Benchmarks in 2000. She is a grant writer of language and educational projects for the Tribes and for NILI. Underriner is a consultant to Oregon’s Department of Education. Her languages of research are Klamath, Tolowa and Chinuk Wawa.
Judith Fernandes
Language teaching consultant
Judith has taught language for most of her adult life. She has an interdisciplinary masters degree in immersion education from the University of Oregon. When she retired from teaching in the public school system, she joined the NILI team and began working with tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Her specialties are immersion language teaching, writing curriculum, oral assessment and teacher training.
Lindsay Marean
Teacher trainer
Lindsay Marean taught Spanish and English in grades 1-12 before coming to Eugene to earn her MA in linguistics. She is currently working as a practical linguist for the Pakanapul Language Team in Mountain Mesa, California; as part of a team creating a Potawatomi dictionary in Forest County, Wisconsin; and as the methods course instructor for NILI. Lindsay is Potawatomi and is dedicated to learning and revitalizing her language.
Joana Jansen
Project coordinator
Joana Jansen completed her M.A. degree in Linguistics at the University of Oregon in June of 2004, and is currently working with Virginia Beavert on a doctoral degree at the University of Oregon that will focus on the grammar of Yakama Sahaptin. She also works with the Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI) teaching Linguistics for Native Language Teachers, and coordinating NILIs Summer Institute as well as on-site teacher trainings focused on program development, curriculum, and materials. In collaboration with community members, Heritage University and NILI staff, she organized the 2005 and 2006 Sahaptian Language Conferences.
Christopher Doty
Grants and technology coordinator
Racquel Yamada
Racquel Yamada has a BA in Linguistics/TESOL and an MA in Education. She is currently collaborating with members of the Kari'nja community of Konomerume as she completes a PhD in Linguistics at the University of Oregon. She has worked with NILI coordinating Summer Institutes, providing on-site assessments, and co-teaching the materials and computers class with Judith Fernandes.
Zalmai (Zeke) Zahir
Lushootseed teacher and scholar
Zalmai (Zeke) Zahir is a scholar and instructor of the Lushootseed language and culture. For over thirty years he has studied with elderly speakers, researching, transcribing and translating Lushootseed. He has authored and co-authored a number of Lushootseed language publications.
Roger Jacob
Roger Jacob grew up on the Yakama Indian Reservation in south central Washington State in a family of five with two brothers and one sister, attending Yakama Reservation Wapato public schools K-12. A natural athlete, he golfs, and has been known to play the radio. "I like salmon, diet pepsi, and seeds. And if you didn't know that, maybe you shoulda axed somebody." Roger has studied at Central Texas College, Eastern Washington University (for a Bachelor of Arts degree), Central Washington University (for a Master of Science degree), Heritage University (for B.A. & Secondary Teaching Certificate), Northwest Indian College, University of Washington, Yakima Valley Community College, University of Arizona, and the University of Oregon. Approximately 10 years ago Roger became interested in language education. "I want to see language used to improve learning and self-esteem among members of the Yakama Reservation community. I would also like to assist in utilizing language to improve the management of Yakama natural and cultural resources."
NILI Advisory Board:
Virginia Beavert
Yakama Nation Elder, Sahaptin Language Teacher, and PhD Student, University of Oregon
Ms. Virginia Beavert has received numerous honors and awards for her language preservation and teaching efforts. She has been the Washington State Indian Educator of the Year, and in 2004 was honored by the Indigenous Language Institute for her lifetime of work on language revitalization. She was awarded the prestigious Ken Hale Prize by the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas in 2008.
Ms. Beavert has taught introductory through advanced classes to students of all ages, and currently serves as Scholar in Residence of Sahaptin Language and Culture at Heritage University in Toppenish Washington. She is a valued instructor of Sahaptin at the Northwest Indian Language Institute at the University of Oregon.
Tony A. Johnson
Cultural education coordinator, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Tony Johnson is a Chinook Tribal member, a linguist and an artist who was born in his familys traditional territory on Willapa Bay in Washington. His education includes attending the University of Washington and Central Washington University, where he earned a degree in Silversmithing and a minor in Anthropology.
Today, Tony directs the Language Program for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde where he is involved in the revitalization of the Chinuk Wawa language. He acquired Chinuk Wawa as a second language from his own elders as well as the elders of the Grand Ronde community. Currently Grand Ronde is experiencing an exciting revitalization of this community language. Tony is committed to this end, is a teacher of students of all ages, and is actively involved in promoting the history and use of this important NW language.
Scott DeLancey
Professor of Lingustics, University of Oregon
Scott DeLancey is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Oregon. He has worked with Native American languages for over 25 years, including fieldwork in a Dene community in Canada, and documentation and consulting with Oregon tribes. He has written extensively about the structure and history of the Klamath language, and the historical relationships of the Native languages of Oregon and California. He is one of the founders of NILI, and has regularly taught in the summer institute. He also works with indigenous languages and communities in Asia, especially in Nepal and Northeast India.
Brenda Frank
Director of Education, Klamath Tribes
Jeff Magoto
Director, Yamada Language Center
Carl Falsgraf (CV)
Director, Center for Applied Second Language Studies
Carl Falsgraf is director of the Center for Applies Second Language Studies (CASLS) and the Chinese K-16 Flagship. He holds a doctorate in linguistics, and he has been teaching and conducting research on language education for over twenty years. His classroom experience includes teaching ESL, Japanese, and a variety of graduate courses in pedagogy and methodology. Falsgraf served on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Executive Board and as president for the Pacific Northwest Council for Languages. His interests include proficiency assessment, standards-based approaches to language education, and data-driven professional development.