A group of youth from the Homalco First Nation worked to keep the Ayajuthem language from going extinct last week.
They attended the first Ayajuthem Summer Language Camp at Homalco from August 21 to 25. They were supported in their discovery of this Coast Salish language by Elders and Language Knowledge Keepers from the community.
Each day of the camp touched on a different theme, the goal being to make the language more visible and more familiar as it is used in regular communications.
Ayajuthem is considered at risk of extinction. The number of fluent speakers in each of the four Sister Nations – Homalco, K’omoks, Tla’amin and Klahoose – is in decline.
In response, a Homalco-based team led by Language Coordinator Marilyn Harry is initiating a five-year Language Revitalization Plan to reclaim and expand the language. The plan includes the Summer Language Camp as a step on the path to having functionally bilingual speakers in the younger generation.
Homalco First Nation is also working in collaboration with School District 72 and North Island College to offer courses in Ayajuthem.
Beginning this fall, high school students will have the opportunity to receive credits for studying the language.
In addition, for the first time North Island College is offering non-credit courses in Ayajuthem, available to a limited number of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults.
These courses, like the Homalco Summer Language Camp, are important steps on the path of language revitalization. They are steps towards national goals of reconciliation through recognition and promotion of Indigenous languages.
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