Research Interests:

Dr. Niku T'arhechu T'arhesi is a four-field trained linguistic anthropologist. Dr. T'arhesi's research interests concern the evolutionary and cultural evolutionary processes that account for human cognitive and linguistic capacities: i) language and sociality, ii) the grammatical dimensions of abstract thought, iii) the discontinuity vs continuity debates, and iv) cross comparative studies human and animal linguistic-communicative behavior, cognition, and neuroanatomy-neurobiology.  His recent project, Endangered Word and Invulnerable Worlds, examines the cognitive and behavioral productivity of the semantic/conceptual dimensions of spatial language among the P'urhepecha of Michoacan, Mexico.

In addition, he is committed to shedding light on the lifeways and histories of Amerindigenous populations from prehistoric to present times: Principally, across Mesoamerica; Secondarily, across i) the Andes, ii) the Amazon, and iii) North and South America. Through these efforts, he attempts to contribute to two principal stakeholders: the Academic community and the Amerindigenous communities. For the former, his research helps to advance theory, method, and knowledge. For the latter, his research intends to provide applied pedagogy grounded in research on endangered languages, language documentation, and language revitalization.

Grassroots Projects: 

An example of the latter is to be found in one of Dr. Niku T'arhechu's personal projects. A P'urhepecha Amerindigenous person himself, he collaborates with his fellow P'urhepecha to revalorize and revitalize their ancestral language. They are currently developing P'urhepecha multimedia pedagogical materials (e.g., dictionaries, grammars, situational utterances) and producing P'urhepecha language voice dubs for popular animated cartoons. In the near future, they plan on producing P'urhepecha language animations that focus on Amerindigenous cultural histories as they relate to contemporary life