The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington

05/07/2026

haʔɫ sləx̌il (good day), AIS Community.
We hope you are well and enjoying the wonderful Spring weather we are having in Coast Salish territory. We will be hosting Beth Piatote (Nimi:pu, Colville) on campus on May 21st from 5pm-7pm at the Intellectual House. Doors open at 4:30 and we will have light refreshments and snacks available. The link to register for 2026 Spring Sacred Breath is available in the link in our bio. If you have any questions please contact [email protected], we look forward to being in community with you all soon!

04/23/2026

Today is Husky Giving Day! We invite you to support the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington.

Your gift helps sustain our work in Indigenous education, supports student success, and strengthens our programs and community partnerships.

If you are able, please consider making a gift today:

page (https://together.uw.edu/i/hgd/Campaign/department-of-american-indian-studies?refGuid=3bb6786f-49b6-4fd8-a308-40bc682afea2&refName=College%20of%20Arts%20%26%20Sciences)

Thank you for supporting AIS!

03/02/2026

The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington invites applications for a Part-Time Lecturer (PTL) pool for AY 2026–27. We welcome applicants committed to Indigenous knowledge systems, community accountability, and student-centered teaching.
Apply via Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/180480
Application deadline: April 1, 2026.

01/31/2026

Good day AIS Community! (RSVP LINK IN DESCRIPTION)
 
 
We hope you have been well and enjoying the new year, we are having the next iteration of our Sacred Breath storytelling series! For this event we will be hosting Oscar Hokeah (Cherokee Nation & Kiowa Nation), he will be providing a keynote and discussion around his work as a novelist and the release of his newest novel “Calling for a Blanket Dance.” Closer to the end of the event we will also be doing a book signing. 

WHEN: February 25, 2026 from 4:30PM to 7:00PM
WHERE: Welebaltxw - Intellectual House 4249 Little Canoe Channel Road Seattle, WA 98195 (Closest parking garage is Padelford Hall)

If you have any questions you can contact [email protected]
https://forms.office.com/r/cruX6ZaLa7

11/18/2025

Hello Community! We hope you are able to join us this week, Thursday 11/20 from 11am-12pm
Healing Heart Speaker Series
wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ University of Washington
Open to the public – doors open at 10:30am for coffee & pastries


“Thunder Song: A Legacy of Resilience”

featuring

Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe (Upper Skagit / Nooksack)
Native to the Pacific Northwest, Sasha draws inspiration from her Coast Salish heritage as well as her life in the city. She writes with a focus on trauma and resilience, PTSD, sexual violence, and the work her great grandmother did for Lushootseed language revitalization. She writes about loud basement punk shows and what it means to grow up mixed heritage. Sasha received a double MFA from The Institute of American Indian Arts with a focus on creative nonfiction and poetry. She teaches creative writing at the Native Pathways Program at The Evergreen State College, and has been a mentor for Seattle’s youth poet laureate program. Her memoir Red Paint won the Washington State Book award and has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Shelf Awareness. Her latest collection of essays, Thunder Song, was named essential nonfiction on People Magazine’s Indigenous Authors to Read List, and has received praise from Seattle Magazine, The Seattle Times, and was a must read pick on Bikini Kill front woman, Kathleen Hanna’s Perfectly Imperfect list. Her collection of poetry Rose Quartz is available through Milkweed Press.


Sponsors
Lushootseed Research
Indigenous Peoples Institute @ Seattle U
Arts UW
School of Music
Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies
American Indian Studies Department
Simpson Center for the Humanities
wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ U Washington


Questions? Email Jessica Bissett Perea [email protected] or Jill LaPointe [email protected]
For more information on this series: https://healingheartproject.org/
For more information on the Feb. 2026 performance: https://music.washington.edu/upcoming

11/06/2025

Good day AIS Community!

We hope you all are doing well and enjoying your Fall. We invite you all to join us with our first Sacred Breath Storytelling series event. It will be November 21st at the Intellectual House from 3pm - 7:30pm.

For more information and registration:
https://tinyurl.com/AISAUSB

If you have any questions please contact [email protected] or [email protected]

11/03/2025

Join Us!

Thursday 11/6 from 11am-12pm

Healing Heart Speaker Series

wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ University of Washington

Open to the public – doors open at 10:30am for coffee & pastries



The Healing Heart of Lushootseed:
A Film Screening and Discussion



featuring

Jill tsisqʷux̌ʷaʔł LaPointe (Upper Skagit/Nooksack), Senior Director of the Indigenous Peoples Institute, at Seattle University. Prior to SU, she worked in social and health service programs serving Native communities for more than 30 years. Jill also taught graduate courses at the University of Washington, School of Social Work. She enjoys supporting students on their academic journeys and building relationships across the campus and with local Tribal communities. Jill celebrates a life in recovery and enjoys serving others on the red road. When her grandmother retired as Director of Lushootseed Research, dedicated to the preservation of the Lushootseed language and culture, Jill agreed to carry on the work. Under Jill’s leadership, LR has successfully hosted an Annual Lushootseed Language conference since 2010 and recently completed a film on the Healing Heart of Lushootseed, about her grandmother’s dream to bring healing to the heart of the world through music.

Janet Yoder is the author of Where the Language Lives: Vi Hilbert and the Gift of the Lushootseed, which pays tribute to the woman whose determination and passion helped breathe life into her language and culture, and was a finalist for the 2023 WA State Book Award. In 1978, Yoder took a Lushootseed class at the University of Washington with Skagit tribal elder Vi Hilbert. She was expecting to learn a little about this local Indigenous language, but what followed was a lifelong journey with Vi. Yoder’s work has been published in literary journals, including the Baltimore Review, and American Literary Review. Her work has been recognized with a Pushcart Prize nomination and a Hedgebrook residency. She lives with her husband on a floating home in Seattle.

Sponsors
Lushootseed Research
Indigenous Peoples Institute @ SeattleU
Arts UW
School of Music
Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies
AIS

10/30/2025

Still a few tickets left to enjoy an amazing dinner event tonight!

We’re excited to share an update to our "An Evening with Our Chefs" event!

Join us for an unforgettable night of Indigenous food, wine, and community at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center on October 30 (5:30–7:30 PM).

Featuring Indigenous Chefs Jason Vickers and Jeremy Thunderbird, and now including a wine tasting from Greywing Cellars, an Indigenous-owned winery in Portland, Oregon, founded by Brandy Grey.

Come eat delicious food, share in community, and support Indigenous chefs and Indigenous-owned businesses. Taste delicious signature dishes that honor ancestral recipes and ingredients while hearing the stories behind the food and the people who made it. Meet the talented chefs behind these creations and learn a new way to appreciate our cultural foods.

Enjoy beautifully crafted wines while celebrating food sovereignty and Indigenous entrepreneurship.

All proceeds support our Indigenous chefs and Indigenous-owned winery.
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-our-chefs-series-event-tickets-1653224883129?aff=oddtdtcreator
Questions? Contact our coordinator, Tia Yazzie, at [email protected].

10/28/2025

Good day, AIS Community!

Please join us this Thursday (10/30/25) from 10:30am -12pm at the Intellectual House at UW for the next part in our Healing Heart Speaker Series.

More information:
Thursday 10/30 from 11am-12pm

Healing Heart Speaker Series

wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ University of Washington

Open to the public – doors open at 10:30am for coffee & pastries



“The Spiritual Language and Culture Behind the Healing Heart of Lushootseed”



featuring

John K. La Pointe (Swinomish)

John was born and raised in Tacoma Washington, on the Puyallup Indian Reservation. He is an enrolled member of the Swinomish Tribe. In 1988 he met his wife Jill (the granddaughter of Vi Hilbert) at the University of Washington. In 1989 they married and later relocated to Swinomish where they raised their 5 children. In 2009 he earned his master's degree in Pastoral Studies from Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry. His post graduate studies include a Certificate in Pastoral Leadership, Seattle University, and completion of all course work towards a Doctorate in Ministry at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, 2010. The primary focus of his research has been on the periods of early contact (pre-Indian boarding school era) between the Coast Salish culture and Christianity. His is also a contributing writer and editor for The Healing Heart of Lushootseed documentary





Sponsors

Lushootseed Research

Indigenous Peoples Institute @ Seattle U

Arts UW

School of Music

Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies

American Indian Studies Department

Simpson Center for the Humanities

wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ U Washington

Questions? Email Jessica Bissett Perea [email protected] or Jill LaPointe [email protected]

For more information on this series: https://healingheartproject.org/

For more information on the Feb. 2026 performance: https://music.washington.edu/upcoming

10/23/2025

Hello AIS Community! We hope you will be able to join us for another Healing Heart Speaker series today at the IH. Doors open at 10:30am Thursday 10/23 from 11am-12pm
Healing Heart Speaker Series
wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ University of Washington
Open to the public – doors open at 10:30am for coffee & pastries

“The Journey of Basket Ogress: A History of the Revival and Revitalization of the Lushootseed Language in Coast Salish Country”


featuring
Laurel Sercombe
Retired Sound Archivist and Curator for the Ethnomusicology Archive (Home of the Vi Hilbert Archive) at the University of Washington

with discussant
John Vallier
Curator for UW Special Collections and the Ethnomusicology Archive (Home of the Vi Hilbert Archive); Adjunct faculty in the School of Music and the Comparative History of Ideas Department
at the University of Washington


Sponsors
Lushootseed Research
Indigenous Peoples Institute @ Seattle U
Arts UW
School of Music
Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies
American Indian Studies Department
Simpson Center for the Humanities
wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House @ U Washington


Questions? Email Jessica Bissett Perea [email protected] or Jill LaPointe [email protected]
For more information on this series: https://healingheartproject.org/
For more information on the Feb. 2026 performance: https://music.washington.edu/upcoming