HUL'QUMI'NUM' LANGUAGE

The language of the ancestors is alive and growing in Snuneymuxw Territory. It‟s being celebrated in songs, dances and lesson plans in school classes down at the Snu‟uy u‟lh Lelum on # 1 Reserve where members are learning Hul'qumi'num in Immersion Camp: “The Gift of Language and Culture.”

The program offers two trained instructors plus elders and special speakers to help celebrate the culture and aspects of identity that we learn through language.  Instructor Jerry Brown told students that “without the language there can be no strong Hul‟qumi‟num culture.”

Instructors Jerry Brown and Mandy Jones are certified as Hul'qumi'num teachers through Chemainus Native College and Vancouver Island University and presently work in School District 68 as Hul'qumi'num instructors. Both morning and evening classes are currently running.

Jerry  Brown reminds students of the wider picture where the goals are to strengthen Snuneymuxw culture and identity.

“Our Elders of this generation,” said Jerry,  “will be the last to have witnessed the time before the cars and the boats.  Many were born in the Longhouses, travelled in the long canoes, lived from the land and still spoke their own native language.

Elders tell us that we need to understand the past in order to understand the present and our future. When our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles share their knowledge with us, this is what we call "tradition": the passing on of the knowledge to the young who want to learn and understand about our culture, language and about retaining our values.” Making the link between culture and language , Jerry praised the students for their public singing of traditional songs.

“I‟m really glad to be here because people are singing, and drumming the songs and prayers.  Some of you will be our future teachers and you‟ll be teaching the little ones.”

Cultural Coordinator and elected Councilor Geraldine Manson is pleased with the success of the first-ever Hul'qumi'num Immersion Camp. Funded by First People‟s Heritage Language and Culture Council, the Program offers a lively mix of physical action and study and is suited to the needs of learners of all ages.

Geraldine hopes it is the first of many programs to follow as the Nation nourishes its culture and traditions.