Our Board - The Language Conservancy

TLC Board Members

TLC is governed by a six-member Board of eminent indigenous language specialists, both native speakers and linguists. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall direction and decision-making of the organization. Directors are elected for two-year terms from candidates nominated from within the Board. All of our board members are actively involved leaders working to revitalize their own language and volunteer their time to support other Tribes by driving TLC’s mission forward.

Dr. Janine Pease (Apsáalooke)Board Chair

Dr. Janine Pease (Apsáalooke), Ukchiiwaagii’deeiishitcheesh (Loves to Pray), is a Crow tribal member, and great grandmother from Billings, Montana. Her professional career centered in the tribal colleges; as president of Little Big Horn College (1982-2000), an LBHC faculty member in the humanities and social sciences (2013-2020), academic vice president at Fort Peck Community College (2008-2010), and Crow Nation Cabinet Head for Education (2010-2012). Since 2014, Janine has served on the board of the Crow Language Consortium, and was principal of the Chickadee Lodge Language Immersion School (2018-2020) in Crow Agency MT. Dr. Pease received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums in 2019, and a Humanities Montana Heroes Award in 2020. Janine is an activist in American Indian voting rights and Indigenous language revitalization.

Taa'ąįį Ch'igiiontà' (Neets’ąįį Gwich’in) Board Member | Interim Executive Director

Taa’ąįį Ch’igiiontà’ is Neets’ąįį Gwich’in from Vashrąįį K’ǫǫ (Arctic
Village), Alaska. He is an advocate of Indigenous knowledge,
languages, and rights, especially as they relate to the health, well-
being, and sustainability of communities. Taa’ąįį is a senior
research scientist at the Center for Alaska Native Health
Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the
Gwich’in language project director for the Arctic Village Council.
He serves as a board member of the Gwich’in Council
International and the Gwich’in Social & Cultural Institute of
Alaska. Taa’ąįį has previously served as the chief for Vashrąįį
K’ǫǫ and as vice chancellor for rural, community and Native
education at UAF. His work focuses on incorporating Indigenous
knowledge and practices into healing, leadership development,
and Dinjii Zhuh K’yàa (Gwich’in language and way of life)
programs. He holds a baccalaureate degree in Alaska Native
studies and a masters degree in rural development.

Curtis Yarlott (Apsáalooke)Board Secretary

Curtis Yarlott (Apsáalooke) is the Executive Director of St. Labre Indian School, and has been a Crow Language Consortium Board Member since 2019. As a fluent speaker of the Crow language, Yarlott has contributed countless hours of recordings for the Crow Dictionary and classroom materials, and has been an educator for nearly four decades. Under Yarlott’s leadership, St. Labre Education Foundation schools Pretty Eagle (in St. Xavier) and St. Charles (in Pryor) Catholic Academies have expanded dual language classrooms (Crow and English) across the curriculum, for Pre-K to 1st Grade. Additionally, St. Labre sponsors a Crow language immersion pre-Kindergarten in the Lodge Grass District.

Alex FireThunder (Oglála Lakȟóta)Board Member

Alex FireThunder (Oglála Lakȟóta) is currently the Lakota Studies Department Chair at Oglala Lakota College on Pine Ridge, South Dakota. FireThunder obtained his Master of Arts in Lakota Leadership and Tribal Administration from Oglala Lakota College. A traditional singer and Native American Music Award winner, he is also the author of five Lakota picture books.

Sabre Pictou Lee, J.D. (Mi’kmaw)Board Member

Sabre Pictou Lee, J.D. (Mi’kmaw) is an Indigenous liaison and researcher with over ten years of experience in the areas of Indigenous and Aboriginal law, mediation, Indigenous arts & culture, identity, health, and language revitalization. She holds a Juris Doctor of Law with a specialization in Indigenous and Aboriginal Law from Dalhousie University, an M.A. in Indigenous and Canadian Studies from Carleton University and a B.F.A. in Art History and Indigenous Studies from Concordia University. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Archipel Research & Consulting.

Past Board Members

Richard Broken Nose | Pine Ridge Sioux Tribe

Dr. Serafín Coronel-Molina | Quechua

Johnson Holy Rock | Oglala Sioux Tribe

Wilhelm Meya

Dr. David Rood

Leonard Little Finger | Oglala Sioux Tribe

Kevin Locke | Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Šišókaduta (Joe Bendickson) – Sisíthuŋ-Waȟpétguŋ Oyáte

Dr. Jan Ullrich

Michael Fitzgerald

The Issue

Unless we act, within the next 100 years, 90% of our world’s 7,000 languages will become extinct. In the United States alone, of the original 400 to 500 languages once spoken from the Pacific to the Atlantic, only about a dozen Native American languages have a chance of surviving beyond 2050. Government aid remains severely limited. The few private foundations tackling language revitalization cannot keep up with demand from so many corners. Very few organizations work to raise funds for and revitalize the endangered languages. The Language Conservancy stands as one of the few organizations working on the ground to maintain linguistic diversity.

learn more about the problem

Providing a Solution

The Language Conservancy supports indigenous languages by helping communities obtain grants , linguistic and technical assistance with the composition and distribution of digital and print learning resources crucial to any language revitalization effort. We also educate the public on the problem of language loss and the importance of nurturing linguistic diversity.

learn how we raise awareness