The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) is an international organization founded in 1981 devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America.
SSILA has an annual winter meeting held alternately with the American Anthropological Association and Linguistic Society of America annual conferences. Presentations at SSILA conferences may be made in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. It awards the Mary R. Haas Book Award to a junior scholar for an unpublished manuscript that makes a significant substantive contribution to our knowledge of native American languages and the Ken Hale Prize in recognition of outstanding community language work and a deep commitment to the documentation, maintenance, promotion, and revitalization of indigenous languages in the Americas.
Recently the Victor Golla Prize, in honor of the publication's former editor, has been awarded for promising scholarship in an America's language. Golla, an expert in California Indian languages, began and edited the newsletter and quarterly for twenty-six years. The current editor is Karen Sue Rolph, a specialist in Ancash Quechua ecological nomenclature and toponomy.
SSILA issues online publications: the SSILA Newsletter, occasional papers, and the electronic SSILA Quarterly. Regular publications contain a great deal of useful information on new publications, developments in indigenous languages, journal articles, grants, and upcoming conferences. Some papers are of specialized interests to linguists, Society members, and students who attend professional conferences.