Everyone deserves to understand and be understood, especially during life’s most difficult and important moments. Over 50,000 Oregonians speak an Indigenous language from regions presently-known as Mexico, Central America, or South America as their primary language.
Despite this growing population, however, none of our statewide systems reliably provide interpretation in Indigenous languages. This is in large part due to two factors:
Indigenous interpreters face barriers to training and formal credentialing, including the nonexistence of formal language proficiency evaluation mechanisms for Indigenous languages, which impedes interpreters' professional advancement and ability to negotiate living wages.
Our statewide systems do not appropriate sufficient funding to compensate Indigenous interpreters according to their unique and highly-valuable skillsets, or to provide interpretation for all Indigenous Oregonians who need it.
The current systems limit access to quality interpretation services for Oregon’s Indigenous communities, sometimes resulting in Indigenous Oregonians being denied life-saving medical care, unable to access critical services, or being wrongfully imprisoned and deported.
Pueblo Unido introduced legislative proposals during Oregon's 2023 session in an effort to address these issues and secure language justice for Indigenous Oregonians. In July 2023, the State of Oregon ultimately approved $2 million to Pueblo Unido to support the development of language proficiency evaluation mechanisms for Indigenous languages. Additionally, the State appropriated $500,000 to Oregon Worker Relief, Inc to compensate interpreters of "languages of limited diffusion," including Indigenous languages from regions presently known as Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Our collective work to implement these proposals is underway. We have thus far developed a model for assessing oral proficiency in Indigenous languages and are currently applying that model to four of the most commonly-spoken languages in Oregon: Mam (Todos Santos), Mixteco (Juxtlahuaca), Q'anjob'al, and K'iche'. Moreover, with guidance from Pueblo Unido and the Collective of Indigenous Interpreters of Oregon, Oregon Worker Relief, Inc recently launched the "Reconocimiento de Idiomas Originarios (RIO) Fund" to fairly compensate interpreters who would otherwise have to volunteer their services or receive sub-standard pay.
However, there is still much work to do to eliminate the barriers that inhibit Indigenous interpreters from achieving the formal recognition and professional advancement opportunities that they deserve, and to ensure that Indigenous Oregonians experience the fundamental human right to understand and be understood.
During the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session we will ask the Legislature to appropriate an additional $2 million to support:
Development of language proficiency exams for additional commonly spoken Indigenous languages and/or variants in Oregon;
Recruitment, training, retention, and coordination of Indigenous interpreters in Oregon; and,
Continuation of the RIO Fund to pay Indigenous interpreters a living wage and ensure that Indigenous language speakers are not forced to pay for their own interpretation during times of need.
If you would like to support our Indigenous Language Justice efforts, please contact Puma Tzoc, Director of the Collective of Indigenous Interpreters of Oregon (CIIO) by phone at 503-360-0314 or by email at puma@pueblounidopdx.org.