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Name: Indigenous Language Interpretation and Healthcare
Start: 2026-05-02T21:00+00:00
End: 2026-05-02T22:00+00:00
Location: Goleta Community Center

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Indigenous Language Interpretation and Healthcare

Date: 05/02/2026 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM 05/02/2026 2:00 PM 05/02/2026 3:00 PM
Location: Goleta Community Center
5679 Hollister Ave.
Goleta, California 93117

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Join us for an educational discussion of linguistic diversity in interpretation and its impact on healthcare access for community members. Speakers will highlight challenges and strategies to deal with linguistic diversity in interpretation, and stress the need for interpreters to ensure equal access to resources and information.

This discussion also shares the motivations, methods, experiences, and initial results of the interdisciplinary research and community action project JSILO (Justicia Social de Intérpretes de Lenguas Originarias).

Presenters: Salustia Ávila, Guillem Belmar, Eric W. Campbell, Javier García, Abigail Hernández, and Jeremías Salazar


Salustia Ávila is from the village of San Agustín Atenango, Silacayoapan, Oaxaca, Mexico. She is a Multilingual Community Interpreter in the Santa Maria High School District in California. She has been working for and collaborating with community organizations in California for decades, with 19 years of experience as an interpreter. She has received training to interpret in different areas, including healthcare, court, and education. She co-hosted the first COVID-19 terminology workshops for Indigenous interpreters organized by the Santa Barbara County Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force.	Guillem Belmar Viernes is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Oregon, and he obtained his PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2024. His research focuses on understanding the dynamics of linguistic minoritization and the ways in which different communities maintain or revitalize their languages. He has worked on several minoritized languages in Europe and North America. He currently focuses on languages of Mesoamerica, particularly Mixtec and P'urhépecha, and their diaspora communities in the West Coast of the US. Since 2019 he has been part of the MILPA collective (Mexican Indigenous Language Promotion and Advocacy).	Eric W. Campbell is an Associate Professor of Linguistics, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he obtained his PhD at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. He specializes in linguistic structure (tone, morphological complexity, syntax and discourse), historical linguistics, language documentation, and lexicography, with a focus on languages of Mesoamerica, spoken in Mexico and in diaspora in California. Since 2015 he has directed the MILPA collective (Mexican Indigenous Language Promotion and Advocacy), a wide range of community-based and community-led projects among university linguists and Indígena language workers in California for language maintenance, pedagogy, and social justice.


Javier García is from the village of Ahuejutla Peras, in the municipality of San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, Mexico. His native language is Tu'un Savi (language of the people of the rain), he also speaks Spanish and English. Javier has six years of experience working as an administrator of Indigenous Language Services at the non-profit organization MICOP providing language interpretation services for Indigenous communities in Southern California. In this capacity, he was a member of the Santa Barbara County Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force.	Jeremías Salazar is a speaker of Mixtepec Mixtec, originally from the village of Yucunani, in San Juan Mixtepec, Oaxaca. He has worked extensively as a community organizer in the Mixtec diaspora community of Santa María, California, where he started working on the documentation of his language in 2009. He has worked in collaboration with linguists transcribing, translating, recording, and analyzing language use in different villages of the municipality of San Juan Mixtepec. Jeremías has spearheaded many projects for the creation of pedagogical material for Mixtepec Mixtec, including the edition of the storybook collection Kìmi tsi chǐvì. He co-hosted the first COVID-19 terminology workshops for Indigenous interpreters organized by the Santa Barbara County Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force. He currently works for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board of the state of California.	Abigail Hernández is from the village of San Juan Cahuayaxi, San Juan Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. She is a professional interpreter, providing Mixtec-Spanish medical interpretation for Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP)and legal interpretation for California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA). Abigail also works as a Health Service Aide with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, supporting community health initiatives and ensuring access to care and resources for diverse populations. She was a member of the Santa Barbara County Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force, where she contributed her skills and expertise to help the community navigate the challenges of the pandemic.