Acknowledgements

My introduction to and intrigue with the region and people of the Amazon dates back to 2003 when I was awarded a generous “Amazon Honors Fellowship” by Project Amazonas (https://​www​.projectamazonas​.org). As an undergraduate, I traveled with fellow students from Florida and joined a team of students from Iquitos, Peru to embark on my first trip down river. I am indebted to President and Scientific Director of Project Amazonas, Dr. Devon Graham, for remaining in contact with me and encouraging me to continue with my cultural and language explorations from that time forward. Later, in 2011, I returned to the Peruvian Amazon, again hosted by Project Amazonas, with generous funding from a “Pre-Dissertation Research Travel Grant” provided by Indiana University which allowed me to collect original data and learn from the indigenous language communities of the Bora, Huitoto, Okaina, and Yagua. Since 2011, I have been working on various projects related to Spanish and bilingualism in the Peruvian Amazon. Along the way, I have benefited tremendously from collaborations with multiple colleagues and mentors, many of whom appear in this volume. Still, there are many more not included in the pages of this work but whose insights greatly advanced the work produced in this manuscript. I also would like to acknowledge two consecutive years of generous summer funding from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi which greatly aided in the completion of this manuscript.

Given the current state of affairs in which many communities in the Amazon are undergoing change as seen in their educational, political or social spheres, I must acknowledge the community members themselves who opened their homes and cultural heritage to me and many of the investigators in this book, to provide us with a snapshot of the rich cultural, linguistic and environmental legacies that would not be accessible otherwise. To them, I owe an everlasting debt of gratitude. I hope that the work in this volume brings them recognition as well as increased support for their languages, communities, and overall wellbeing.

This project would not have been possible without the support of Jennifer Cabrelli and Kimberly Geeslin, the series editors for Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics. To the same degree, I am grateful for the support of the John Benjamins team, particularly Kees Vaes and Patricia Leplae. The chapters in this volume benefitted substantially from invaluable input offered by the greater scientific community through the peer-review process. I am deeply indebted to the following reviewers for their time and commitment to this volume:

Very special thanks for their love and continual support are certainly in order for my family, especially my wife Ala and son Simon Patrick, the core of Team Shamrock! Además, quiero agradecerle a mi profesor y mentor, Manuel Díaz-Campos, quien, en 2011, me ha puesto en la inscripción de un volumen editado de la sociolingüística hispánica “con la seguridad de que en el futuro escribirás un libro con mucho éxito.” Y sobre todo estoy agradecido por el apoyo continuo de Dios.