Virginia R. BeavertVirginia Beavert , PhD, a member of the Yakama Nation and native speaker of Sahaptin, is a 2006 recipient of the Washington Governor's Heritage Award; 2007 Central Washington University Alumna of the Year; 2008 recipient of the Ken Hale prize of the ociety for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas; and 2008 recipient of a Distinguished Service Award, University of Oregon. She has been a professor, director of the Sahaptin Language Program, and scholar-in-residence at Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington, on the Yakama Indian Reservation, since 1991. She is coauthor of Ichishkíin Sinwit Yakama / Yakima Sahaptin Dictionary (University of Washington Press, 2009). Read More Read Less