The Cahuilla Pedagogical Grammar Project: An Indigenous Language Research Model (ILRM) Approach to Writing Pedagogical Grammars for Indigenous Communities

Presented by Ray Huaute at the Language Documentation and Archiving Conference, Berlin & Online, 4-6 Sept, 2024 The Community-Based Language Research Model is defined as “Research that is on a language, and that is conducted for, with, and by the language-speaking community within which the research takes place and which it affects” (Czaykowska-Higgins 2009) but where “by” usually refers to Indigenous community members who are working “in collaboration” with a non- Indigenous researcher rather than leading the research themselves. In this talk, I present an alternative framework, the Indigenous Language Research Model (ILRM), where research that is on a language is conducted for, with, and by the language-speaking community (but where “by” can include linguistic research led by and Indigenous community researcher), and in a manner that is relationally accountable to the language-speaking community. This model centers linguistic research around community-specific language reclamation goals, while also creating multiple opportunities for engagement, allowing researchers to identify what type(s) of linguistic research might best support language revitalization efforts in a given community. Specific examples of this approach will be illustrated from my postdoctoral research project, “The Cahuilla Pedagogical Grammar Project”.