The 2026 Linguistics MLK Colloquium will occur on Friday, January 23, 2026, with Wesley Leonard (UC Riverside) as the speaker.

Wesley Y. Leonard is a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and an associate professor of Native American Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Drawing from his training in linguistics and experience in community-based language programs, he works to build capacity for Native American language reclamation, a community-driven and decolonial form of language work that includes but goes beyond what is widely referred to as language revitalization. He also co-developed the Natives4Linguistics project, which promotes Native American research protocols and intellectual tools for doing linguistic science.

Colloquium Title: Indigenous Peoples, Ethics, and Linguistic Data: Approaches to Decolonizing Linguistics

Abstract: Despite the increasing focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the discipline of Linguistics, members of Native American and other Indigenous communities remain underrepresented––and often report feeling unwelcome. A recurring concern is that Linguistics is not accountable to Indigenous histories, protocols, and ways of engaging with language communities and linguistic data. A wider issue is that colonization is endemic, and disciplinary norms have developed accordingly.

What changes when Native American and other Indigenous intellectual approaches serve as the baseline from which linguistic research and pedagogy are approached? Drawing from my professional experiences as a linguist, Miami tribal member engaged in community language efforts, and co-founder of the Natives4Linguistics project, which aims to reimagine Linguistics through Native American ways of knowing, I engage with this question and offer several interventions.