Language inspiration through art

Module #2, Post #2

http://bwyse.ca/www.bwyse.ca/HOME.html

This site is hosted by Canadian Salish Aboriginal Language Artist: B. Wyse. Although the site seems non-educational at first, her navigation bar leads to an education link that features videos of the Halkomelem language of the Coast Salish people which has been on the brink of extinction.

Her site also includes links to other sites such as:

First Voices

Sto:lo Nation

UBC’s Museum of Anthropology

I found B. Wyse’s site useful because of the education section about the Halkomelem language. I found the videos quite interesting. It was inspiring to hear the Halkomelem language from fluent speakers and hear what they had to say about how if there is no interest in learning the language than their life would have no meaning. Through art, B. Wyse is trying to share and inspire people to learn the language. At the beginning of the first video, there was a quote saying “the language encapsulates the knowledge of culture… the spirit… the environment.” I think that this statement is very true and gives reason to why dying languages of Canada’s indigenous cultures need to be revitalized – to preserve the culture!

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