Saving Salish: A Journey of Language Revitalization
Grahm Wiley-Camacho
Est. 1955
Upper images are courtesy of the Northwest Room . Image to the left are courtesy of the Salish School Collection. The image above is courtesy of the Nostalgia Magazine Collection.
October 18, 2018,
Christopher Parkin and Grahm Wiley-Camacho will share their experiences as leaders of the movement to preserve and revitalize Southern Interior languages, including the founding of Salish School of Spokane by their family. The presentation will include information on the geography and history of Salish people, their language and culture, as well as features of indigenous language revitalization movements and the local work being done to learn, teach and revitalize the Salish languages of the Inland Pacific Northwest.
Christopher is the Principal of Salish School of Spokane, the only full-time, off-reservation Native American immersion language school in the continental US. Salish School of Spokane currently provides childcare, preschool, elementary school, and adult language training for families in the City of Spokane. Chris holds undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Social Studies Education from Eastern Washington University. He is an advanced apprentice speaker of N̓səl̓xcin̓ (Colville-Okanagan Salish) and is fluent in Spanish. Chris is a leading expert in Salish language revitalization and curriculum development and is the designer and co-author of the materials that make up the N̓səl̓xcin Curriculum Project. He is also the lead designer of the Qlispélixʷcn̓ Curriculum Project, a project sponsored by the Kalispel Tribe Culture Department that is based upon his work with N̓səl̓xcin̓. Chris only speaks n̓səl̓xcin̓ with his five grandchildren, and he lives in Spokane, Washington with his wife, LaRae Wiley, a Colville tribal member and the founder of Salish School of Spokane.
Grahm Wiley-Camacho is an advanced apprentice speaker of n̓səl̓xcin̓ and has been working with his mentor Sarah Peterson for the past dozen years. Grahm is sn̓ʕay̓ckstx (Arrow Lakes Band of the Colville Tribe). He is the son of LaRae Wiley and Christopher Parkin. He currently works as the lead teacher in the lower elementary classroom at Salish School of Spokane. Grahm has a BA from The Evergreen State College and an MEd from Harvard Graduate School of
Education. He lives in Spokane with his wife, two daughters and cat. When he is not working you can find him under training for various foot races or with his nose in a book. Grahm is proud to teach and parent in Salish and his goal is to encourage other language learners to turn off English and use their heritage language instead.
Please join us at the Airport Holiday Inn, 1616 S. Windsor Drive Spokane, Washington 99224. Contact Pat Holien by October 15th, for reservations. Pat's email is patholien@comcast.net and phone number is 509-951-2090
Westerners Spokane CORRAL
Christopher Parkin
The purpose of the Westerners Spokane Corral is to bring together in warm fellowship men and women who have a common interest in Pacific Northwest history. The Westerners meets the third Thursday of every month, except July and August. Westerners encourage historical research, popularize western lore , history through publication, awards and preservation of archival records, documents and other evidence of the Pacific Northwest.
Call Sheriff Dick Jensen (509) 747-1335. Send mail to: The Westerners Spokane, P.O. Box 1717, Spokane, WA 99210 for more information. We meet the third Thursday of every month, except July and August. Meeting time is 5:30PM for dinner and 7:00PM for the speaker at the Airport Holiday Inn, 1616 South Windsor Drive, Spokane.
Sharing PACIFIC Northwest HISTORY
Westerners Speakers Team
Click here for more information