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Gabriel Gilbert

Class of 2023
Image of Gabriel Gilbert '23; he is wearing a black aloha shirt with a red leaf pattern that runs from his shoulder down the left half of his shirt.

About 

Aloha to the page of a wanderlusting writer juggling college life and several other hobbies into an eternally-short 24-hour day. I hope to shed light on the Dartmouth experience as I explore the brave new world of Hanover, NH and everything going to college here has to offer. In my free time, you can find me trying to learn a new language or building the perfect Spotify playlist (alternative/indie, anyone?). I hope you enjoy!

Academic Program 

Linguistics

Favorite Thing Right Now 

Fantasy novels and homemade poke!

Hometown 

Stafford, Virginia

Pronouns 

he/him/his

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Gabriel's D-Plan

What's a D-Plan?

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Indigistory

      Taught by Gordon Henry, an Anishinaabe poet and author, this class taught me to explore Indigenous storytelling within digital contexts. I took this class with only seven other classmates, allowing us to really engage with films, comic books, and television shows in Indigenous languages or produced by Indigenous artists.

    • WinterHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Historical Linguistics

      Taught by Timothy Pulju, this class taught me how to identify and understand how languages evolve over time and why. I analyzed and reconstructed fictional languages of imaginary nations in order to understand the link between language and culture, and ended up having such an appreciation for the complexity and beauty of language's place in history!

    • SpringMyrtle Beach, SC

      Favorite Class: The End of the World

      Taught by Lindsay Whaley, this class let me discover a newfound love for ancient apocalyptic literature. We analyzed ancient texts and compared them to modern apocalypses, looking at the zombie apocalypse phenomenon and other apocalypses in pop culture and comparing them to the ancient tradition of writing apocalypses. Additionally, I learned the Greek alphabet and now I can even stumble through ancient Greek passages.

    • FallNew Orleans, LA

      Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law

      Taught and organized by David Peterson, this class let me get into the shoes of a real linguist as we did fieldwork (virtually!!) with the Zophei language. I learned how to describe a never-before-learned language's phonology (sound system), how to characterize its grammar and words, and ultimately got to present my research to experts in the language family around the world in a workshop at the end of the term!

    • WinterHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Native American Literature and the Law

      Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class taught me how Native literature can provide lens by which to evaluate, critique, and ultimately revise Federal Indian Law. During this class, I read works by Native authors like Tommy Orange and Louise Erdrich '76 alongside the opinions of definitive case opinions in American law and explained how literature can be a catalyst for Indigenous sovereignty.

    • SpringMyrtle Beach, SC

      Favorite Class: Undergraduate Research

      Supervised by N. Bruce Duthu, I spent this off-term performing research after being awarded a Sophomore Research Scholarship to study contemporary Hawaiian cultural and linguistic revitalization. I studied 19th-century newspapers and contemporary Hawaiian texts in order to understand how Hawaiian language revitalization both past and present has advanced and continues to enable a contemporary bodied Hawaiian politic of sovereignty.

    • SummerHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Morphology

      Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me about how languages create meaning through words. During this class, I learned how to analyze different languages' morphological processes and compare different approaches within the field as to morphological structures.

    • FallHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Indian Country Today

      Taught by N. Bruce Duthu, this class offered me a glimpse into the lived realities of Native people in Indian Country Today. I learned about the economic, social, cultural, and historical roots for the struggles of Indigenous people today within the United States, and was able to write about the contemporary battle for Native Hawaiian visibility and Hawaiian sovereignty.

    • WinterHilo, HI

      Favorite Class: Language Documentation

      Taught by Laura McPherson, this class taught me how to engage in language documentation and how, as a linguist, we can put our skills to use to help communities seeking to document and revitalize their languages. I worked on the Satawalese language, spoken on the island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ultimately, my team created two dictionaries - one in English, one in Hawaiian, a website, and several materials that focused on the Satawalese tradition of wayfinding and non-instrumental ocean navigation.

    • SpringHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Sound Relations

      Taught by Charles Eastman fellow Sunaina Kale, this class taught me about the role of sound in delineating, conceiving, and comprehending relations between people and the land in Indigenous musical traditions. Over the course of the class, we discussed Indigenous musicians, listened to music from Native peoples around the world, heard from masterful Indigenous musicians, and ultimately presented a project that creatively analyzed a song of our choice. My project focused on the song "Ask Yourself" by Foster the People, and I wrote a poem that integrated aspects of Indigenous languages and worldviews to answer questions posed by the song.

    • SummerHanover, NH

      Favorite Class: Honors Thesis Research

      This term, I formally began the research process for my upcoming honors thesis in the Linguistics department on Hawaiian semantics! While living in Hanover, I also began working as a Senior Fellow with the Admissions department—a position I will be holding for the entirety of my last year at Dartmouth.

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Moments on Campus: My First Spring Term!

At the time of my writing this post, I am just three weeks away from the end of my junior year, and yet am about to wrap up my very first spring on campus. When I was but a first-year, the upperclassmen all said that spring was the term where they really came into their Dartmouth experience—after all, the term boasts the most impressive array of on-campus events, including lūʻau, powwow, and Greek Key. But as my first spring is happening during my penultimate year, my expectations were humble. Suffice to say, being able to witness so many of the events I'd heard so much about come to life has been a roller coaster and one I don't want to get off of! Here were some of my favorite times thus far (though note that I've yet to experience Greek Key—sequel post when?).

  1. No. 1

    Flowers in bloom!

    White flowers on a tree at night on campus

    When we arrived on campus, I definitely caught the tail-end of an Upper Valley winter. I forgot what snow looked like, to which Hanover opted for a quick reminder. But over the term, we’ve gotten to enjoy some increasingly amazing weather. Seeing the flowers emerge has been an unexpected but welcome treat.

  2. No. 2

    Grand entry at Powwow!

    Parade of Native people dressed in regalia as they march out into arena for Dartmouth annual powwow's grand entry.

    Chills ran down my spine at this year’s annual powwow. One of the few Dartmouth events allowed to be held on the Green, it was a gathering of Indigenous people from around the country and also a reunion for Dartmouth’s Native students. The grand entry starts the powwow: participants walk into the arena to a drum song together, led by invited guests and in a specific order. This was my first powwow, and just watching so many alumni—many of them wearing their traditional regalia—reminded me of how much of a legacy Dartmouth has in regards to Native students. Won’t be forgetting this day anytime soon.

  3. No. 3

    Spring sunsets!

    Image of a pink and purple sky behind Baker Library from the Dartmouth Green.

    Not sure what’s in the air, but the sunsets this term have been incredible. I’ve seen purple, pink, green skies and experienced some picnics on the Green to these amazing atmospheres. Honestly just amazing.

  4. No. 4

    Dancing hula at lūʻau!

    Tevita Moimoi '24 and Gabriel Gilbert '23 dancing hula at 2022 luau.

    I am not a dancer by any means, but dancing hula at our annual lūʻau this term was the first time I’ve performed a dance for a crowd, ever. Even though it went about as smoothly as we expected (which is to say, not smooth), we had a ton of fun and I couldn’t stop laughing after the fact. My friends keep trying to show me video clips of this performance and it takes a lot of willpower to watch my awkward movements for longer than three seconds. Regardless, I still think we looked really good - especially when people couldn't catch all of my shaky footwork behind that mega speaker. Mahalo to Naia Bhalla ‘22 for the picture!

Posted 05/16/2022 at 9:00 AMAll List Posts

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