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Squamish language in revival Immersion class graduates first cohort, starts second intake
BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
The effort to revive the Squamish language from the brink is gaining steam, 15 speakers at a time.
The first cohort of students from the Temstl’i7 ta Sníchim language immersion class has completed their first year, emerging fluent enough to carry on everyday conversation. And the program is now accepting applicants for the next academic year starting this September. The class was founded in partnership with SFU’s First Nations Language Centre by Squamish activist and educator Khelsilem when the number of fluent speakers of the language in the postresidential school era had fallen to single digits. “If we have 30 people in the community speaking the language in the community, that’s going to be huge – 30 more people than we had two years ago,” Khelsilem said. The program, which is open to anyone with Squamish ancestry, includes roughly 900 hours of full-time classes at SFU’s downtown campus over the course of eight months. Instruction is done in the Squamish language, with very little translation, starting from the very basics. “They’re actually going to succeed. If they take this program, they’re going to become speakers of the
Khelsilem, a Squamish Nation activist and educator, is recruiting people of Squamish descent who are willing to study and relearn their traditional language through full-time studies at SFU’s downtown campus. PHOTO CINDY GOODMAN language, which they might not have realized was possible before, and we do it in a way that’s fun and engaging. There’s a lot of laughter and it’s really a space that feels safe (in which) to learn a language,” Khelsilem said. It also is an accredited university program that grants 30 academic credits that can count towards a bachelor’s degree. Khelsilem is targeting
people in their early 20s who are most likely to have children in the next 10 years – children who could potentially be the first in many generations to be raised in their own language. In time, Khelsilem said his goal is to have 10 per cent of his people speaking Squamish as their first language.
See Language page 7
Manny bags birthday bronze at alpine world championships ANDY PREST aprest@nsnews.com
Thirty-third birthdays likely don’t get much better than the one North Vancouver native Manuel Osborne-Paradis
celebrated on Wednesday.
The man known as Manny in the alpine ski racing world scored a bronze medal in super-G at the FIS world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Manny and
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teammate Erik Guay, who finished first in a dominant performance, became the first Canadian duo ever to share the podium in a world championship race.
See Medallist page 5
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