Centre for Indigenous Americas Studies
The Centre for Indigenous America Studies (CIAS) at Leiden University is designed to coordinate and promote the teaching and research of Indigenous languages, literatures, cultures and cultural heritage.
Our aim is to contribute to an increased acknowledgement, recognition and understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems and the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas.
Commemorating Pieter Muysken (1950-2021)
On April 6th, the terrible and shocking news reached us that Pieter Muysken had died after a short but severe illness. Pieter’s contribution to the study of the indigenous languages of South America is unparalleled, not only in his own, very influential and versatile work, but also in terms of creating numerous opportunities for others to study South American languages and in the support he offered them to reach the best possible results. Above all, Pieter was a very warm, open, and generous person, who radiated optimism and belief in people’s capabilities. While Pieter’s legacy lives on, we miss him terribly. Thank you, Pieter, for everything.
Winners CIAS small grants
Our call for proposals for CIAS small grants has yielded an impressive amount of excellent research proposals. We would have loved to support all of these initiatives, but unfortunately limited amounts of funds forced us to pick 5 of the proposals. It was extremely hard to decide, but in the end, based on various parameters, we have chosen to fund the following projects, in alphabetical order of contact person:
Salvaguarda do Patrimônio Linguístico e Cultural de Povos Indígenas Transfronteiriços e de Recente Contato da Região Amazônica - Bruno Ribeiro Marques, Universidade Federal de São Carlos (PPGAS, UFSCar)
Archaeology and Indigenous Sovereignty in Darién, Panama - Natalia R. Donner, Fac. Archeology, Leiden
Jóvenes kichwas de la comunidad de Chirihuasi - Elvis Tuquerres, PROYECTO KICHWAWA
Mayan languages in contact: Awakateko and K’iche’ in Guatemala - M. Carmen Parafita, LUCL, Leiden
CÓDICE_MIXTECOS.COM - Omar Aguilar Sánchez, Fac. Archeology, Leiden