Haisla Nation held a multi-week-long workshop earlier in September, as part of the work for the Haislakala Language Revitalization Program that was announced earlier this year.
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The Rapid Word Collection workshop succeeded in recording and collecting thousands of words,and it brought together “living keepers of Haisla knowledge and members keen to see it passed on,” Haisla Nation said in a release.
The workshop was facilitated by Larry Hayashi from the Canadian Institute of Linguistics, and Haisla Nation said they were able to collect 3,940 words.
Employment and Training Manager with Haisla Nation, Kailee Gardiner, said in the release that this definitely isn’t the end of this project and more information will be released as the digital dictionary is prepared.
“We’re going to keep going,”Gardiner said to participants at the end of the workshop. “I hope that you’re all willing to help.”
Haisla Nation said the workshop will help contribute to the Haisla Language Curriculum for students from preschool to post secondary through the standardization of the language in course work.
“The aim is to involve the community in the development of the curriculum by accessing the history through a team of community knowledge keepers and community participation in various ways moving forward,” Haisla Nation said in the release.
Visit the Haisla Nation website to see some video highlights from the workshop.
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clare.rayment@northernsentinel.com
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