POSTPONED Celebration: the Lil’wat Language Project and new dictionary, June 19, 5pm

Last month, I wrote that I believe in the power of naming things, and love learning the Lil’wat word for things. I also have a bit of a fetish for dictionaries, and have scooped a couple of them from the library’s “weeded books” shelf lately. (“WHAT? They’re THROWING OUT THE DICTIONARY?)

There was a time when First Nations kids were punished for speaking their own language, so the reclamation effort that has been undertaken by the Lil’wat Nation, and the new dictionary and language books that are being launched, is truly worth celebrating.

What is the Ucwalmicwts word for “momentous?” Or “Congratulations”?

It’s also why I want to know the Lil’wat word for things. Qwalimuk — the Birkenhead River. Ts’zil — Mt. Currie. Names that, if I can learn to pronounce properly in Ucwalmicwts, will bring me into an even closer relationship with this place. – See more at: http://www.whistlerquestion.com/opinion/columnists/the-wellness-almanac-put-the-right-name-on-it-1.1075918#sthash.e3jez9ZB.dpuf

It’s also why I want to know the Lil’wat word for things. Qwalimuk — the Birkenhead River. Ts’zil — Mt. Currie. Names that, if I can learn to pronounce properly in Ucwalmicwts, will bring me into an even closer relationship with this place.

As much as it made me want to snap my crayons, I believe in the power of naming things.

– See more at: http://www.whistlerquestion.com/opinion/columnists/the-wellness-almanac-put-the-right-name-on-it-1.1075918#sthash.e3jez9ZB.dpuf

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