The Coahuiltecan language is considered extinct because less than 1,000 people now speak this language. The Institute is dedicated to the study and revival of the Coahuiltecan language. For a Coahuiltecan language dictionary and other relevant information published by the Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, visit the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
This series of 6 weekly classes is focused on the Coahuiltecan language and cultural traditions as informed by the Miakān Garza Tribe. This is a unique opportunity to deepen your connection with your Indigenous heritage and join a community dedicated to preserving and revitalizing our cultural practices.
Please note that our class is limited to 16 community members. Once a spot opens or the next offering of this course is becoming available, we will be notifying applicants.
We look forward to sharing this journey with you.
In 2023, funded by Humanities Texas, the Institute launched a formal Coahuiltecan Language Reclamation Program which will help us to reclaim our language. We also began teaching an in-person Beginner’s Course at Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos for community members and the public. Dr. Jessica L. Sánchez Flores facilitated this program. She is of Nahua descent, grew up in a town near Iguala, Guerrero and is currently an Assistant Professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. The original team she assembled is listed below.
For reclamation work in 2024 and 2025, Dr. Sanchez was joined as co-facilitator by Dr. Luis F. Avilés González and they assembled a new circle that will help launch the Beginner’s Course online, create an Intermediate Course, and develop an online database tool to support language learners. Below is a photo of the new and returning circle members.
Dr. Luis Avilés González is the program co-coordinator leading the Linguistics research group. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish for Spanish Speakers program at San Diego Mesa College in San Diego, CA. He is eager to continue supporting the community in their quest towards language reclamation.
Eduardo de la Cruz who is a native Nahuatl speaker and has taught Nahuatl full time for twelve years, and currently holds the position of director at IDIEZ (Zacatecas Institute of Teaching and Research in Ethnology), a Mexican non-profit where he heads Nahua culture and language revitalization projects. In 2023, he advised the program on curriculum and instruction.
Bobbie Garza-Hernandez, in 2023, led the outreach effort that engaged the community in the language program, which includes input about what they want to learn and how. Bobbie majored in Communications and Hispanic Relations at St. Edward’s University and is a resident of San Marcos, Texas. In 1997 she launched her public relations company, Pink Consulting, after serving as the Chief of Staff to former Austin Mayor Gus Garcia. She continues to work in community engagement for clients in Austin, TX.
Chris Haberland is a data scientist and PhD student studying computational linguistics at the University of Washington. He has supported the development of digital linguistic tools to assist learners and teachers to connect with the Coahuiltecan language.
Judith Landeros assisted with curriculum development in 2023. She is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin studying Cultural Studies in Education. Her family is from the ancestral territories of the P’urhépecha and Chichimeca. She is a former bilingual early childhood teacher and currently works in the Curriculum and Instruction department, College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.
Patricia Núñez Porras, M.Ed. is a bilingual educator and advocate with over thirty years of experience in bilingual education. She is the co-founder and director of the La Colaborativa Cuauhtli Project, a transnational initiative that fosters reciprocal knowledge exchange with partners in Mexico. She is a member of the Tanko Circle, a collective of educators affiliated with the Indigenous Cultures Institute in San Marcos, Texas, dedicated to preserving the Indigenous knowledge systems of the Coahuiltecan people. Currently a doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. As a language instructor, she is committed to the revitalization and sustenance of the Coahuiltecan language in Central Texas.
Carolina Rodríguez Alzza is a PhD candidate in Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked closely with Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest for over a decade, supporting their efforts to preserve and revitalize their languages. As a member of the linguistics team, she is committed to supporting and advocating with the Coahuiltecan community in San Marcos as they reclaim their language.
Dr. Jessica L. Sánchez Flores (Nahua descent) is coordinator of the Coahuiltecan Language Circle since 2021. She works as an Assistant Professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. As an Indigenous person in movement she is committed to collaborate with the Coahuiltecan community in their mission to reclaim and strengthen their language in Central Texas.
Bradley Tellez Humble is a student researcher supporting Dr. Sanchez Flores’ work with curriculum development. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is entering his final year as an undergraduate at Colorado College. He is pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies, specializing in studies of Spanish, Portuguese, and Maya. He is excited to start working with the team this summer to support the project’s mission of Coahuiltecan language reclamation.
The Institute released its Coahuiltecan Traditional Ceremonial Songs CD and accompanying manual. This manual is made available to members of the Coahuiltecan community and people who follow an indigenous, ceremonial path.
For more information please contact the Institute.
