Episode 9: Samuel Villarreal Catanach

Samuel Villarreal Catanach is from and grew up in P’osuwaegeh Owingeh (the Pueblo of Pojoaque). He serves as the director of the Pueblo’s Tewa Language Department. Samuel’s goal is to give back to his community while continually defining and strengthening his identity and role as a Pueblo person. In this episode, he shares his passion and personal experiences with language revitalization within the process of decolonization; why it matters for all Indigenous peoples to learn and use our languages and histories; the challenges within the field of language revitalization; and some uplifting observations that he has had during his time in this line of work.

Resources mentioned in podcast: 

First Peoples’ Cultural Council – fpcc.ca  

Where Are Your Keys – whereareyourkeys.org

The Language Warrior’s Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds by Anton Treuer.

How to Keep Your Language Alive: A Commonsense Approach to One-on-One Language Learning by Leanne Hinton.

The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization by editors Leanne Hinton, Leena Huss, and Gerald Roche.

Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language by Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz.