Group of people smiling with book.
Dr. Pilar Valenzuela
, Associate Professor of the
Department of Languages
, recently presented her new book titled “Voces Shiwilu: 400 Años de Resistencia Lingüística en Jeberos” in the city of Iquitos, Peru. The event was organized by the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) and the Region of Loreto.

This book explores the history of the Shiwilu people from Western Amazonia, from their first encounter with the Spaniards to the present, in order to understand the causes that led to the almost complete displacement of their native language in favor of Spanish, and the role that the native language plays in the current process of identity reconstruction. Also, this book contains the first published texts in the Shiwilu language. Shiwilu is one of the two extant members of the Kawapanan family. Dr. Valenzuela’s research was made possible thanks to the 2006-2008 Wang-Fradkin Professorship from Chapman University and NSF grant #0853285.

Photo (left to right): Rolando Riva, Secretary of Culture, Loreto Region; Dr. Pilar Valenzuela; José Barletti, President of the Regional Council of Intercultural Bilingual Education, Loreto Region; Luis Veintemilla, Technical Secretary of the Regional Council of Intercultural Bilingual Education, Loreto Region