  This paper reports the results of a near infrared spectroscopic survey of
LINER galaxies undertaken with a new infrared spectrograph at the 5 m Hale
telescope. The galaxy sample includes 11 LINERs with spectra covering the
[FeII] (1.2567 microns), PaBeta (1.2818 microns), H2 (1-0 S(1), 2.1218 microns)
and BrGamma (2.1655 microns) near infrared emission lines, and one additional
galaxy with only [FeII] and Pa$\beta$ line coverage. All of the LINERs with
infrared line detections have strong [FeII] and/or H2 emission, with about half
(4 out of 9) having extremely high ratios (>2) of [FeII] to PaBeta. The
strength of the H2 and [FeII] lines is well correlated with the optical [OI]
line, with many LINERs having higher ratios of [FeII]/PaBeta, H2/BrGamma and
[OI]/H-Alpha than other galaxy types. The LINERs with the highest [FeII]/PaBeta
ratios (termed ``strong'' [FeII] LINERs) show evidence for recent star
formation. Shocks from compact supernova remnants may enhance the [FeII]
emission in these ``strong'' [FeII] LINERs. The LINERs with lower [FeII]/PaBeta
ratios (termed ``weak'' [FeII] LINERs) are more consistent with Seyfert-like
activity, including higher ionization states, some strong x-ray sources and
some broad H-Alpha detections. The [FeII] luminosity and the [FeII]/PaBeta
ratio in these objects are more easily explained by hard x-ray excitation than
in the ``strong'' [FeII] LINERs. These ``weak'' [FeII] LINERs are considered
prime candidates for being low luminosity Seyfert nuclei.
