Team | All Our Kin Collective

Kevan Joe

Co-Director of the All Our Kin Collective, Lecturer at Fort Lewis College

Kevan Joe (he/they) is the director of the All Our Kin Collective. Kevan is Diné (Navajo) from Tuba City, AZ. He received his PhD, MA, and BA in linguistics from the University of Arizona, with emphases in Native American languages, language documentation, preservation, and revitalization. Kevan is a fluent speaker of Diné Bizaad and teaches classes surrounding Diné Bizaad and Indigenous linguistics at Fort Lewis College. He states: "regarding language, they carry the wisdom, stories, and traditions of the community. They also are the key to understanding Indigenous worldviews and are a means to bridging the gap between the past and the future.”

Ally Gee

Project Support Specialist

Email: acgee@fortlewis.edu

Ally Gee (she/her) is the project support specialist for the All Our Kin Collective. She is an alumna of Fort Lewis College, graduating in 2021 with her BA in Public Health and a Pre-Health certificate. Ally is Diné from the community of Low Mountain, Arizona; she is Towering House born for the Charcoal-Streaked division of the Red Running Into Water clan. Ally was born and raised on the Navajo Nation where her parents, grandparents, and extended relatives are fluent Diné Bizaad speakers. She learned that within her Diné culture and language is the ability to pray, sing ceremonial songs, tell creation stories, and build community with her people. Ally is passionate about supporting Native peoples in their journey to reconnect with their tribal languages, an opportunity which she believes should be afforded to all Native people.

Janine Fitzgerald

Principle Investigator for the Mellon Humanities For All Times and NEH Humanities Initiatives for Public Colleges and Universities grants

Email: fitzgerald_j@fortlewis.edu

Janine Fitzgerald has taught in the Sociology Department at Fort Lewis College for many years.  She has always been interested in socio-linguistics and the importance of bilingualism and language revitalization. Teaching Indigenous students at Fort Lewis College has opened her eyes to the urgency of language revitalization. She was awarded a grant from the Andrew C. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities  to create an Indigenous Language Revitalization Collective.  She speaks Spanish, studies Irish and lives on a farm in Southwest Colorado. 

Laurel Grimes

Digital Media Specialist

Email: lagrimes@fortlewis.edu

Laurel Grimes is the digital media specialist for the All Our Kin Collective. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas, and has been an artist and designer for over seven years. Laurel recently graduated from FLC with her BA, majoring in Native American & Indigenous Studies and Communication Design with a minor in Studio Art and a concentration in Honors. She is Vietnamese, Chikasha, Cherokee, and Irish and belongs to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. Coming from multiple ethnic and cultural backgrounds, Laurel has seen the way different languages shape community and worldview. She is excited about the Collective's potential to contribute to Indigenous sovereignty reclamation by reviving Indigenous ways of knowing through language revitalization.

Rachael Nez

Co-Director of the All Our Kin Collective

Rachael Nez is a documentary filmmaker and educator who resides in the Southwest. Born and raised on the Navajo Reservation, maintaining heritage languages and working with Native communities are her core passions. Her work centers on utilizing media tools, art, and sensory learning for Native languages, cultural sharing, and language preservation. An Elouise Cobell scholar, Rachael has been an associate professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts, teaching video production, cinema history, and storytelling courses. She strongly believes in Indigenous language reclamation and supports those efforts through her knowledge of multi-media technology. Rachael holds a Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis, with a Designated Emphasis in Performance and Practice. Rachael is the Post Doc for the All Our Kin Language Collective at Fort Lewis College, sharing and contributing to Native language reclamation.

Email: rnez5@fortlewis.edu

Rosalinda Linares-Gray

Mukurtu Specialist

Email: rhlinaresgray@fortlewis.edu

Rosalinda (they/them) manages the digital collection for the All our Kin Collective, housed on Mukurtu, a content management platform designed for indigenous cultural heritage items. Rosalinda is the Collections and Research Services Librarian at Fort Lewis College is passionate about working with BIPOC students and campus communities. Rosalinda earned a BA in Classical Civilizations from Wellesley College and an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh. As a third generation immigrant from Mexico, Rosalinda has experienced the profound effects of language loss on cultural understanding of self, identity, and community, and is proud to support initiatives that aim to combat these effects and uplift Indigenous communities.