Making their language sing (fwd link)

Tue Oct 14 16:57:16 UTC 2008

ABORIGINAL HERITAGE

Making their language sing
Kym Gouchie gets grandmother's help to save an endangered tongue through song

CATHRYN ATKINSON
Special to The Globe and Mail
October 14, 2008

A native singer-songwriter hopes a grant from the Canada Council will help three
generations of her family make beautiful music together, and at the same time
save their critically endangered indigenous language.

Kym Gouchie received $8,000 from the council to write and record songs in the
Lheidli dialect, a branch of the Carrier language group of northern British
Columbia.

Only three elders of the Lheidli T'enneh people still speak the language
fluently, including Ms. Gouchie's 87-year-old grandmother, Mary Gouchie.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081014.BCLANGUAGE14/TPStory/National