The Ktunaxa Language Summit is set to go ahead later this month, aiming to share and celebrate the language.
“It’s an event where nations will come together to share their language and what they’ve accomplished,” said Alizae George, youth representative.
The four-day event will feature several learning opportunities for attendees, with keynote speakers and a fluent speakers panel, among other topics.
“The Ktunaxa Language Summit is a gathering that we were able to organize to celebrate our people, milestones, what’s coming up in the future and resources that will be available,” said Barbara Fisher, Ktunaxa Language and Culture Lead.
The language summit is primarily meant to teach other Ktunaxa and other indigenous residents, but educators are welcome as well.
Teaching and sharing indigenous languages, such as Ktunaxa, is an important part of cultural preservation.
“As a nation, our language was almost gone, but we’re still here,” said George. “Getting to know our language and culture and building on it is really important because it shows we are still strong and resilient as a nation.”
Fisher emphasized the importance of keeping the language alive.
“Our language is an isolate, and we may have 10 fluent speakers in our nation,” explained Fisher. “Revitalization is crucial as we might lose it, but with everyone working on our language and culture, it becomes stronger. This way, we can build it up in a way that brings hope to our people.”
Fisher spoke about the work involved in documenting, learning and sharing the language.
“It’s a lot of work getting out there and interviewing elders, mentors, knowledge-keepers,” said Fisher. “I’ve been doing this for seven or eight years now and with the amount of language I have, I want to be able to gift it back to people.”
However, keeping that knowledge circulating can be a difficult task.
“Nisiⱡkninsⱡkaini kȼxat hakiⱡkiniⱡ. Ktunaxa akⱡukaqnum ⱡa ga yunagwumni Ê”atki’ȼxa ‘akⱡukaqaⱡis ȼin at inini suqapi kȼxanam. Wiⱡgapȼitmiⱡin a’kⱡikqais admiⱡ’nis. ⱡuli ⱡhaqa ⱡakⱡak kituqⱡiⱡqat ⱡak a’kⱡukaqinum na kamniⱡa kquqaⱡ nuk’ni [The struggle to keep the Ktunaxa language is real and with only a handful of fluent speakers our language is going to become as basic as the English language. If the people don’t continue to learn the language of our ancestors, we will lose our unique way of speaking and writing],” said Fisher, speaking in Ktunaxa. “What I just said was that it’s hard for us to keep our language strong because we’re trying to get sentences going, but with the way the language is written, we can’t just take a sentence and get it directly like that.”
The event is set to go ahead from March 25 to 28 at the Prestige Inn in Cranbrook.