Tribe helps young people learn Salish (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

March 7, 2010 3:41 p.m. PT

Tribe helps young people learn Salish

By KEVIN GRAMAN
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
USA

SPOKANE, Wash. -- For the first time in a couple generations, young
people are speaking ancient words of hope for Native Americans on the
brink of losing the first language of the Inland Northwest.

Thanks to an innovative language acquisition program, Salish is being
spoken on the Kalispel Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington,
not just by a dwindling number of tribal elders but by their
grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"Our language is what holds us. It is a part of who we are. This is
what my father told me," said Dakota Littlecrow, who at 17 years old
is well on her way to becoming fluent in Kalispel Salish.

Access full article below:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_salish_kalispel.html