'That Which Makes Us Haida' (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

Our indigenous languages are very very beautiful, poignant, and  
heartbreaking all at the same time.  The short story and photo on Mona  
Jackson comes soo close to my heart that I just want to inhale deeply  
with all the words I have.   At times, this is how it really is on  
living life with an endangered language.  Many of you know this.

Phil Cash Cash
UofA

On Nov 3, 2011, at 10:54 AM, Phillip E Cash Cash wrote:

> 'That Which Makes Us Haida'
> Less than 40 fluent speakers of the Haida language remain, but they
> won't let it go without a fight.
>
> By Heather Ramsay, Today, TheTyee.ca
> Canada
>
> That Which Makes Us Haida: The Haida Language
> Scott Steedman, Jisgang, Nika Collison, editors. Photographs by  
> Farah Nosh.
> Haida Gwaii Museum (2011)
>
> "We're waking up after decades of silence; we're decolonizing our
> minds. Central to this process is the Haida language. Our language is
> who we are; through it we are turning back the tide of cultural
> unlearning and creating a Haida future rich with history, language and
> a worldview for our children and their children, as id Kuuniisii (our
> ancestors) did for us." -- Nika Collison, Haida Gwaii Museum curator.
>
> Larger than life, the faces of some of the last fluent speakers of the
> Haida language line the wall at the Haida Gwaii Museum. The stunning
> portraits of elders in Skidegate, Old Massett and Alaska who are
> keeping the language alive were taken by Vancouver-based photographer
> Farah Nosh, and are documented in a new book, That Which Makes Us
> Haida: The Haida Language.
>
> Access full article below:
> http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/11/03/Haida-Language/
>