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CORVALLIS - The preservation of Oregon native languages is the focus of a conference Thursday and Friday, May 16-17, at Oregon State University. Called "Sacred Landscapes: Speaking to the Seventh Generation," the conference features representatives from numerous Native American tribes around Oregon, as well as other scholars, educators and historians.

The conference is sponsored by a number of campus groups and coordinated by the OSU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. "Native languages increasingly are in danger of being lost, internationally, nationally and in Oregon," said Joseph Krause, who chairs the OSU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. "One of the purposes of this conference is to draw attention to the issue and share ideas of how to preserve these languages."

The conference is open to the public and pre-registration is encouraged. The cost is $10 per person for the general public to cover training materials and the reception; OSU students and faculty with ID will be admitted free. Most of the events will be held at LaSells Stewart Center, 26th Street and Western Boulevard in Corvallis. To pre-register, call the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at OSU, 541-737-2146, or e-mail Laurie Wyant at: laurie.wyant@orst.edu.

The opening ceremony begins at 12:30 p.m. on May 16. Otis Halfmoon, the Nez Perce tribal historian, will offer opening remarks.

A session will follow at 1:30 p.m. that serves as an introduction to Oregon native languages. Representatives from the Siletz, Grand Ronde, Warm Springs, Klamath, Burns Pauite, Umatilla, and Fort McDermott Shoshone/Pauite tribes will speak.

Two of the events on Thursday are free and open to the public. A ceremony honoring OSU's Native American alumni will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the American Indian Room of the Memorial Union. Then, from 5 to 8 p.m., a salmon bake and storytelling session will be held at the Native American Longhouse.

On Friday, May 17, a session beginning at 9 a.m. will focus on Senate Bill 690, which centers on Oregon teacher certification for Native Americans. Betsy Costi, of the Oregon Department of Education, will lead the session.

Other Friday sessions include:

• "The Importance of Archives in Teaching Language and Culture," 10:45 to 11:15 a.m.;

   

• "Initiatives and Resources," by the Alaska Native Language Center and the Northwest Indian Language Institute, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.;

   

• Technical sessions on the use of language labs, interactive language learning programs, satellite teleconferencing, and the Internet, 1:30 to 3 p.m.;

   

• Workshops on integrating languages and cultures into the classroom, and managing the language classroom, 3:30 to 5 p.m.

The final event of the conference also is free and open to the public. Stephen Greymorning, executive director of the Arapaho Language Lodge, will give the conference's keynote address. His talk, "Giving the Gift of Language" begins at 7 p.m. in Austin Auditorium of LaSells Stewart Center. His presentation is free and open to the public.