Papers by Michael A Shepard, PhD
Language archives represent a complicated theoretical and practical site of convergence for Nativ... more Language archives represent a complicated theoretical and practical site of convergence for Native American language communities. In this article, I explore how functionality and operation of language archives are misaligned with core sociopolitical priorities for Native American tribes. In particular, I consider how the concept of cultural and political self-determination contextualizes lack of use or resistance to participation in language archiving projects. In addition to critical evaluation, I envision a dramatically expanded role for language archives, with the goal of increasing their cultural and political compatibility for Native American groups and beyond. I use the term, 'value-added language archive' to describe an archive with features and support services that address emergent needs of a diverse stakeholder community.
“They don’t look like Indians to me” was stated in a 1993 federal committee hearing by Mr. Trump,... more “They don’t look like Indians to me” was stated in a 1993 federal committee hearing by Mr. Trump, in an attempt to delegitimize Native casino development. That statement is just one of many, that reveal Trump’s fundamental disregard for Native self-determination. In this short article, I explore cultural and political implications of Trump’s rhetoric toward Native Americans. I find that a Trump presidency could represent the most damaging era for Native people since the Indian Termination Era, particularly given ongoing tribal opposition to fossil fuel exploitation.
“They don’t look like Indians to me” was stated in a 1993 federal committee hearing by Mr. Trump,... more “They don’t look like Indians to me” was stated in a 1993 federal committee hearing by Mr. Trump, in an attempt to delegitimize Native casino development. That statement is just one of many, that reveal Trump’s fundamental disregard for Native self-determination. In this short article, I explore cultural and political implications of Trump’s rhetoric toward Native Americans. I find that a Trump presidency could represent the most damaging era for Native people since the Indian Termination Era, particularly given ongoing tribal opposition to fossil fuel exploitation.
Everyday communication in minority languages continues to experience decline around the world, ev... more Everyday communication in minority languages continues to experience decline around the world, even given efforts to reverse these processes. As language shift progresses the products of language documentation, including the oral histories and the unique cultural information they contain, become increasingly important. Archives are commonly used to store these resources, but the design and functionality of archives often fails to address language community interests in protecting their capacity for self-determination and other core cultural beliefs. I find that most existing language archives examples lack sufficient controls to maintain culturally based sharing protocols, enable contextualization of resources, provide opportunities for local collaboration and support educational dissemination. Lack of capacity to manage use of and access to language resources in an archive can contribute to an erosion of sovereignty for the language community. Partially in response to the cultural incongruence of existing archive options, community-based and participatory archives are on the rise. In this dissertation I critically evaluate the capacity of endangered language archives to operate in concert cultural beliefs, including the maintenance of sovereignty and demonstration of indigeneity. The identification of language ideologies is a useful lens to determine the cultural compatibility of archives and their practices. I present research with people from Indigenous communities in Washington State, Alaska and California. In addition, I describe interviews with managers and directors from international language archives and small community based ones. My research makes use of the Mukurtu CMS archive platform to both test this tool and its applicability for language preservation. Control of language resources enables tribes to reassert their capacity for cultural resource management as part of their self-determination.
To meet workforce demand and the needs of working or place-bound students, Whatcom Community Coll... more To meet workforce demand and the needs of working or place-bound students, Whatcom Community College developed an online version of its existing face-to-face Physical Therapist Assistant program which became a model for other lab-based health science degrees. This article describes research studies that support the program's practices and includes the story of how the program successfully developed despite faculty and professional community skepticism.
Conference Presentations by Michael A Shepard, PhD
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Papers by Michael A Shepard, PhD
Conference Presentations by Michael A Shepard, PhD