My name is Thierry (tea-ERR-ee) and I am a Frenchman and a cultural and linguistic anthropologist.
I first was acquainted with the Burns Paiute community in 2012 when I volunteered at a culture camp in Logan Valley and met several elders of the community.
I have also been working with many elders of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone community, recording oral traditions in the Northern Paiute language, translating new and existing recordings, and working with the community on language maintenance efforts.
Between 2014 and 2021, I researched the history of the McDermitt community both from oral traditions and archival and published records, which resulted in my doctoral dissertation A Historical Ethnography of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone.
Ne sekwi wawa’a taibo ‘I am just a white foreigner’ but I am dedicated to supporting the vitality of Northern Paiute language and culture.