At the end of June, more than 45 Native American language leaders, teachers and learners gathered on the University of Oregon’s Eugene campus to attend the annual Summer Institute. Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences's Northwest Indian Language Institute (NILI), the event featured live, daily workshops for teachers of Indigenous languages. The Summer Institute provides professional development for Native language teachers and an opportunity for peer connection. 

This year more than 15 Indigenous languages and communities were represented at the institute, including from the Pacific Northwest region such as Klamath, Ichishkíin, Hanis and Lushootseed, as well as those from further south and east, such as Choctaw, Nahuatl, Haida and Hopi. Attendees lodged on campus and took part in all-day workshops tailored for either beginning or experienced teachers and celebrated evening cultural events together. 

"NILI Summer Institute is a collaborative effort between the UO and Native communities. It is very much driven by the needs of folks working on the ground, fighting to restore the many local, Indigenous languages of our region," said Robert Elliott, director of NILI and Yamada Language Center . “Attendees come with a deep commitment to their culture and to their language. The workshops and training sessions we provide not only offer opportunities for professional growth, but also foster the creation of strong connections with others working to restore their languages."

The in-person participants were joined daily by online attendees for a one-hour hybrid session called the Tuxámshish Revitalization Learning Series (TRaiLS). TRaiLS started as a response to the COVID-19 crisis but has proven highly successful in allowing folks who are not able to attend the institute in person an opportunity to take part in this professional development. TRaiLS online attendees joined from around the country and as far away as France to learn more about language revitalization work from a different practitioner highlighted each day. 

NILI supports Native languages by providing training for a wide variety of language revitalization activities, including documentation, archiving, curriculum and materials development, classroom teaching, and grant writing. NILI also supports UO students by aiding the teaching of Indigenous languages at the UO and providing student career opportunities within the growing field of language revitalization. 

NILI was founded at UO in 1997 at the request of Native American language leaders from a number of tribal communities around Oregon and the Pacific Northwest who had been attending a similar institute at the University of Arizona but wanted something closer to home specializing in languages from the area.