Yá’át’ééh. Warlance is of the Sleep Rock clan, born for the Red House clan. His maternal grandfathers are of the Many Hogans clan, and his paternal grandfathers are of the Salt People clan. He is from Lake Valley, NM, and he is a Diné man.
For the past 12 years, Warlance has been a 520-licensed language and culture teacher in New Mexico, working with prenatal families through to grandparents on language revitalization and sustainability initiatives. He has taught at a public school in Cuba, NM, a BIE school in Tohajiilee, NM, and a charter school in Albuquerque, NM, where he also served as a community language teacher.
Currently, Warlance is the Director at Saad K’idilye, a Diné language nest in Albuquerque, NM. His work focuses on supporting prenatal families, infants, toddlers, and PreK children up to 3 years old. He also serves as a parent language teacher for 2L learners and oversees the 2L learners mentor-apprentice program, which helps caretakers become 520-certified and highly proficient speakers of the language. Over the past two years, seven caretakers have obtained their 520 licenses in New Mexico under his guidance, including three who were 2L learners.
Diné Bizaad (Navajo) is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States, especially within the Navajo Nation. With approximately 170,000 speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken Indigenous language in North America. However, with 400,000 tribal members, intergenerational transmission and long-term sustainability of the language is a priority. Since the late 20th century, there has been a growing movement to reclaim and revitalize Diné. In August 2022, Warlance helped launch Saad K’idilyé, the only Diné language nest on or off the Navajo Nation. Now, they are furthering this effort by expanding their existing language nest program to include a full-immersion PreK program by August 2025. Currently, Saad K’idilyé immerses prenatal families, newborns, infants, and toddlers (ages 2 months to 3 years) in over 1,500 hours of Diné language per year. Over the next year, Warlance will continue researching Indigenous full-immersion PreK programs to learn from and influence their programs at Saad K’idilyé, refining their methods to ensure long-term language sustainability.
Wikitongues Fellows are bold, community-rooted leaders driving the future of their languages. Through a year-long accelerator, they receive funding, hands-on technical training, and strategic mentorship to launch and scale projects in documentation, education, lexicography, media, and Wikimedia platforms. Each Fellow joins a global cohort of language activists who share tools, experiments, and hard-won lessons, transforming local initiatives into sustainable movements. The result is practical, community-owned work that keeps languages spoken, taught, recorded, and alive for generations.
