American Indian Sign Language Conference, Browning, MT (August 31 - September 2, 2012)

[Davis, Jeffrey E (Jeff)]

Announcing: American Indian Sign Language Conference, (August 31 – September 2, 2012)
Blackfeet [Amskapi Pikuni] Reservation, Blackfeet Community College, and Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, MT. In collaboration with Friends of the Museum of the Plains Indian and The University of Tennessee with support from The National Science Foundation’s Documenting Endangered Languages Program, Division of Linguistics (id #1160604).

The 2012 Labor Day Weekend Conference will focus on contemporary use of Indian signed language and commemoration of the 1930 Plains Indian Sign Language Conference held in Browning, MT (see http://pislresearch.com/). The Conference will feature sign language presentations and workshops; formal sign language documentation activities; as well as ceremonial and educational activities for all ages. We are inviting signers and others interested in participating in the signing activities from beginners to advanced signers and participants interested in signing/talking with members of tribes in the US and Canada. The 2012 Conference will be one of the first occasions since the 1930s that American Indians from different nations will convene to share their American Indian Sign Language (AISL) skills and stories.[1]

We are hoping to identify and involve individuals who know sign language from Indian nations of the US and Canada to share their knowledge of history, geography, and culture through signed and spoken languages from among N. Cheyenne, Blackfeet, Crow, Assiniboine, Nakoda, Lakȟóta, and other Indian Nations. The chief objective is to involve signers of all ages and generations who are learning and using sign language today, to involve Native community members in language documentation and revitalization, and to give back to these communities the conference proceedings and documentary materials produced during the Conference. Thank you for sharing this announcement and the flyer attached. Please email Jeffrey Davis and see the Conference website for more details. http://pislresearch.webfactional.com/new/aisl-conference-2012/

Jeffrey Davis, PhD, CSC, CI/CT, SC:L (email: jdavis49 at utk.edu<mailto:jdavis49 at utk.edu>)
Professor of Sign Language Linguistics and Interpretation
Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education
College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville



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[1] Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) has been the most well documented and described variety of American Indian signed language because of its long history and widespread use (documented since at least the 1700s). Several other dialects or distinct varieties among the Plains and neighboring tribes have been reported and more studies are needed to illuminate these differences.  The indigenous signed languages of America Indians are sometimes collectively referred to as American Indian Sign Language. Varieties of indigenous sign language have been identified among the Inuit-Iñupiaq, Keresan Pueblo, Meemul Tziij, Navajo/Diné, among others.


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