Saving the syilx language in the Okanagan

KELOWNA – Ongoing efforts to revive the indigenous syilx language will be boosted with special events at Okanagan Heritage Museum on June 21 and 22.

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day so, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. visitors can climb the warrior’s ladder in the winter home and learn about this language.

“Language connects people to their land, their culture, their family and their ancestors,” Jen Garner, education and programming co-ordinator with Kelowna Museums, said in a news release. “Nsyilxc?n (the Okanagan language) is critically endangered, with fewer than 50 fluent Elders. Think of all that is lost when a language dies.”

Homemade bannock will be on sale to help raise funds for the Syilx Language House, which is described in the release as a "grassroots organization that is committed to creating fluent nsyilxc?n speakers.”

On June 22, from 11 a.m. to noon, there is Storytelling with Anona. A $10 family donation is suggested as Anona shares the captikwl (chap-teek) of Chipmunk and Owl Woman.

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