Dr. Shannon Bischoff to speak on Indigenous language revitalization
The event is free with no reservations necessary
To celebrate Indigenous People's Day, Central Michigan University will host Dr. Shannon Bischoff as the keynote speaker. He will discuss Indigenous language revitalization at 6 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium in Park Library.
The event is free to attend, and no reservations are necessary.
Dr. Bischoff received his Ph.D. in Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Arizona. He currently works as a professor in the linguistics department at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Dr. Bischoff is a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Decade of Indigenous Languages Regional Committee. The purpose of the committee is to promote world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.
Recently, Dr. Bischoff worked with the Myanmar government regarding education reform and language policy.
Bischoff has published seven books and has many articles. Many of these books and articles are about how to study different languages including, Navajo language studies.
Over the past four hundred years in the United States, there have been over two hundred Native American languages that have gone extinct due to the impact of forced assimilation and cultural genocide against indigenous peoples, according to the Language Conservancy.
One of the main establishments used for this cultural genocide was boarding schools.
Mount Pleasant was home to an active Industrial Native American Boarding school until 1934. The building still remains standing. NBC News reported over 200 bodies of Native children have been found on the premises. The last boarding school to close in Michigan was the Holy Childhood School of Jesus, in Harbor Springs. It closed in 1983.
For more information on Dr. Bischoff's event, visit CMU's website. cmich.edu.
