In a relaxed and slightly more informal gathering than usual, Vernon School District trustees were given a mini lesson in the Okanagan language at this month’s board meeting Tuesday.
Gathering at New Horizons Hall on the Okanagan Indian Band Reserve, trustees and administrators spent time socializing with band elders and members, while enjoying some traditional native tea. Elder Peggy Brewer led the proceedings with an opening prayer.
“Having a meeting here on the reserve is a high priority for us,” said board chairman Bill Turanski. “We operate on the traditional territory and land of the Okanagan Nation and we really have appreciated the support we have received from this community and we have a great deal of respect for the traditions of the Okanagan people.”
One of those traditions is the use of the Okanagan (nsyilxcen) language. Sandra Lynxleg, principal of aboriginal education for the district, outlined the course and its growth over the last two years, and introduced certified classroom teacher Ben Louis and language teachers Madeline Gregoire and Wilkie Louis.
“The process began in 2009 when we met with the band’s Education Council to try and figure out the best way of implementing language classes,” she said.
The program began at Alexis Park elementary with 36 students studying the language in Grades 5 to 7. As well, a conversational pilot program was launched at W.L. Seaton secondary.
“We didn’t have another certified teacher for the program so instead we had elders meet at lunch with students in an informal setting,” said Lynxleg.
By the beginning of the current school year, Seaton had 28 students in Grade 8, with an introductory class for Grade 11 students.
Lynxleg said she is now working with schools to include classes at Ellison elementary and Fulton and Charles Bloom secondary schools for the 2011/12 school year.
The program uses resources from the Paul Creek Language Association, a non-profit society that promotes the use, preservation and revitalization of the Okanagan language in the communities of the Lower Similkameen Valley.
In working with his students, Louis uses web applications Salish Tutor and Storyteller, but he also makes use of the MimioTeach Interactive Whiteboard, giving trustees a demonstration.
“In teaching today’s kids, they all have some kind of device and so we make use of technology because that’s their world and teachers can help bridge the gap,” he said. “It’s an oral langauge, but they still need to get used to the reading and writing.”
After the presentation, Gregoire had trustees laughing as they attempted to come to grips with the unfamiliar sounds of the language, learning to say hello and goodbye, “way,” and good evening, “xast sklaxw.”
A teacher for five years, Gregoire grew up speaking the language.
“My kids all understand me and so I made the effort to teach because of the importance of it. My grandfathers all said, ‘you watch these kids and you teach them,’” said Gregoire, as she shared a little of her childhood, which was steeped in First Nations traditions. “I grew up and lived and travelled on the land and I miss that, of being free, playing with animals, riding horses, so I teach a lot of that to the kids as well and they all ask, ‘how did you live, how did you eat?’”
Growing up in Merritt, Gregoire said there was one store and a cafe, and if her family needed something, they rode the wagon into town. Otherwise, they had all they needed with their fish, dried meat, berries and what they grew in their garden.
“My goal is to hope that we have teachers and I know that there are kids I’ve taught out there who can speak the language. It’s good to hear because a lot of people say it’s going to be lost, but if we keep on pushing the kids, we’ll keep it alive.
“Kids say to me, ‘Now we know who we are’ because I teach the language, the history, the drums.”
