Virginia Beavert (born November 30, 1921) is a Native American linguist of the

Ichishkíin Sahaptin or Shahaptin, endonym Ichishkin, is one of the two-language Sahaptian branch of the Plateau Penutian family spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Ore ...

language at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Linguist career

As early as the age of 12, Beavert began working with

Melville Jacobs Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist known for his extensive fieldwork on cultures of the Pacific Northwest. He was born in New York City. After studying with Franz Boas he became a member of the faculty ...

and other linguists and anthropologists as a liaison and interpreter. In the 1940s, Beavert served in the

Women’s Army Corps The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an Auxiliaries, auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the U ...

in New Mexico during World War II for three years. As a result of her distance from Native speakers of Ichishkíin, she discovered it was a struggle to communicate as fluently during a phone call to her mother. Her parents, Ellen Saluskin, and stepfather Alex Saluskin worked alongside linguist and anthropologist Dr.

Bruce Rigsby Bruce Rigsby (1937 – March 19, 2022) was an American-Australian anthropologist specializing in the languages and ethnography of native peoples on both continents. He was professor emeritus at Queensland University, and a member of both the Au ...

from the University of Oregon. Their work to develop the Ichishkíin alphabet eventually transformed into the first Ichishkíin dictionary in 1975, which Beavert participated in with her stepfather and Dr. Bruce Rigsby. When her stepfather Alexander Saluskin (also known as Chief Wi-ya-wikt) became ill in the 1970s, she set out to get a college education in anthropology and language studies. Her stepfather motivated and encouraged her to pursue her education and teach Ichishkíin, to anyone interested in learning. Beavert cautions that Native languages, cultures, and traditions are not one and the same; while there may be similarities between practices and dialects, many anthropologists and ethnographers mistakenly use information on Native cultures interchangeably.

Personal life

Beavert was born in a cave of the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon during a blizzard, on November 30, 1921. Beavert completed a bachelor's degree in anthropology at Central Washington University in 1986. After teaching at Heritage College on the Yakima Reservation, Beavert decided to return to school to fine tune her methods for teaching language. In the year 2000, Beavert graduated with a masters of education in bilingual and bicultural education from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. At the age of 90, she earned her doctorate in linguistics from the University of Oregon and is the school's oldest graduate in history.

Works

Books

* The Gift of Knowledge: Ttnúwit Átawish Nchʼinchʼimamí: Reflections on Sahaptin Ways irst publication: 2017* Anakú Iwachá : Yakama Legends and Stories irst publication: 2000* Ichishkíin Sínwit Yakama: Yakima Sahaptin Dictionary irst publication: 2009* Yakima Language Practical Dictionary irst publication: 1975* The Way it Was: Anaku Iwacha: Yakima Legends irst publication: 1975*A Song to the Creator: Weaving Arts of Native Women of the Plateau irst publication: 1996

Scientific Articles

* “Origin of Basket Weaving” (Jan 1996) * “Predictable versus Underlying Vocalism in Yakima Sahaptin” (July 2002) * “Word-initial clusters and minimality in Yakima Sahaptin” (May 2006) * “A Note on the Phonetic Correlates of Stress in Yakima Sahaptin” (Dec 2010) * “Yakima Sahaptin Bipartite Verb Stems” (Jan 2011) * “Agent case marking in Sahaptian” (Jan 2013) * “Northwest Sahaptin” (Dec 2014) * “Sahaptin: Between stress and tone” (June 2016) * “Why indigenous languages matter for mathematics education: a case study of Ichishkíin” (Jul 2020) * “High-ranking Affix Faithfulness in Yakima Sahaptin” (Nov 2021) *“Why STEM Needs Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Case Study of Ichishkiin Math” (2019)

Awards

2004

NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Faculty Research Award“Museum at Warm Springs Honoring Dinner 2019.” Museum at Warm Springs, 2019. 2008 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon Beavert was a recipient of the Ken Hale prize of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the AmericasSpilyay Tymoo. “Elder, Native Speaker Receiving Lifetime Achievement.” ''Coyote News, Est. 1976'', 5 June 2019, p. 8.

References

1921 births Living people Central Washington University alumni Native American linguists Native American writers University of Arizona alumni 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native American writers {{DEFAULTSORT:Beavert, Virginia American centenarians Women centenarians Language teachers Yakama 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American writers University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon faculty Native American language revitalization