In October 2025, several lab members went to Merritt to attend the 2025 Language & Culture Móqʷix hosted by Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly. This is the third consecutive year that we have had the privilege of attending the Language & Culture Móqʷix, with our group previously attending in October 2023 and September 2024.

We got to listen to and learn from many presentations, meet and visit with our collaborators and other community members, and just enjoy hearing lots of nɬeʔkpemxcín being spoken.  A highlight was hearing Leo Charlie discuss writing nɬeʔkpemxcín songs, including his artistic process for creating music that merges modern rhythms with more traditional techniques.

During the first day of the gathering, we were able to record a new in-person nlaka’pamux conversation with two of our collaborators, K Bernice Garcia and Bev Phillips.  This is extra exciting as it is the first opportunity we have had to record with this pair of speakers.

Later, we hosted discussion circles where we shared a bit about our work, and heard others’ thoughts on the topic of language documentation and their preferences for different types of material (audio, visual, text, etc.).  It was especially meaningful to hear our consultants discuss the importance of recording their language.  We are very grateful to them and everyone else who spoke to us with such honesty and care.

Finally, a few lab members also stopped by Lytton to record a new story with speaker Bev Phillips.

Thank you to CNA for organizing — we look forward to next year!

In September 2024, several lab members went to Merritt to attend the 2024 Language & Culture Móqʷix hosted by Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly.  We got to listen to and learn from many presentations, meet and visit with our consultants and other community members, and just enjoy hearing lots of nɬeʔkpemxcín being spoken.  A highlight was hearing Iona and Aaron Sumexheltza talk about their creative efforts to pass the language on to their (grand-)children.

We also hosted two discussion circles where we shared a bit about our work, and heard others’ thoughts on the topic of language documentation.  It was especially meaningful to hear our consultants discuss the importance of recording their language.  We are very grateful to them and everyone else who spoke to us with such honesty and care.

Thank you to CNA for organizing — we look forward to next year!

In October 2023, several lab members attended the Language & Culture Móqʷix hosted by the Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly.  The conference took place at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) in Merritt, BC.  We were able to share some of our language work with community members, as well learn from lots of interesting presentations about Nɬeʔképmx traditional practices.

Thank you to the organizers, everyone who came to talk to us about our projects, and everyone who shared some of their knowledge with us.  It was wonderful to hear so much of the language!

After the Móqʷix, we had a bonus visit in Lytton, BC, with speaker Bev Phillips.

Students Danica Reid (left) and Noah Luntzlara (right) prepare to showcase their work (with some lovely Merritt scenery in the background).

Students Brent Hall (left) and Reed Steiner (centre) try out an nɬeʔkepmxcín card game with speaker kʷaɬtəzétkʷu (Bernice Garcia).

Professor Lisa Matthewson (far left), speaker kʷaɬtəzétkʷu (Bernice Garcia) (centre), and students (L-R) Brent Hall, Reed Steiner, Anna Stacey, Noah Luntzlara, Danica Reid, and Katie Givens together at the móqʷix.

Students (from left) Noah Luntzlara, Anna Stacey, Danica Reid, and Brent Hall meet up with speaker Bev Phillips (centre) in Lytton.