c̓atswiiʔats łim̓aqsti ʔaaḥʔasaquu c̓aʔak: It flows through my inner conscience like a river: Ancestral continuity and Hesquiaht Language Flow
Date
2024
Authors
Rorick, chuutsqa L.
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Abstract
This Indigenous Hesquiaht Participatory Action Research focuses on language acquisition for teachers and learners, co-creation of language teaching materials with fluent speakers, and the design and implementation of a 100-hour ḥiḥiškʷiiʔatḥa ‘Hesquiaht language’ revitalization camp by the researcher, a community insider to Hesquiaht First Nation. The research is presented within the metaphorical concept of c̓aʔakquu ‘the river’s path’ symbolizing the organic progression, obstacles encountered and the possible reaches of language revitalization and restoration. Efforts to align with ʔiqḥmuut ‘ancient and continuing’ understandings of the inherently reciprocal characteristics of ḥiḥiškʷiiʔatḥa and the Hesquiaht world are applied to this research.
Spiritual and emotional phenomena are essential components of ḥiḥiškʷiiʔatḥa learning; therefore, the researcher draws on the idea of Hesquiaht Language Flow [HLF]; a set of values drawn from learning with Hesquiaht fluent speakers in the planning and delivery of language lessons. HLF prescribes four overarching principles including oral traditions, active learning, cultural context, and connection as a primary influence over teachings at language camp. Choosing language domains and establishing camp daily speech routines in this manner, specifically within the context of Hesquiaht land and sea, the researcher centres Hesquiaht ways of knowing and being, while underscoring the communal obligation to continually restore, revitalize and sustain the interconnection between Hesquiaht language and Hesquiaht land. A few compatible Second Language Acquisition (SLA) elements are applied in camp to enhance pedagogical approaches. Additionally, experiences from the Hesquiaht language camp are shared in order to advocate for continual efforts to restrengthen intergenerational transmission of Indigenous languages on their respective ancestral lands.
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Indigenous language revitalization, Hesquiaht, Nuu-chah-nulth, First Nations, Land-based learning, Indigenous research, Pedagogy, Language camp, Language acquisition, Indigenous languages