Most Haida speakers probably won\u2019t ever use the phrase \u201cg\u00e1m hl k\u2019\u00e1alaangw d\u00e1ng gat\u00e1a\u2019anggang.\u201d<\/p>\n
It means \u201cdon\u2019t eat the pens.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the members of the Haida Language Learners group learned it anyway after their instructor broke off briefly during a recent lesson to stop her infant niece from using a dry erase marker as pacifier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to speak to her as much in Haida as I can just to get her exposed to all of the sounds,\u201d Emily Edenshaw-Chafin told the class after separating her niece from the box of markers she\u2019d found only moments before. \u201cWhat I learned early is you should use as much Haida as you know as often as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s exactly why the Haida Language Learners group started meeting a few years ago.<\/p>\n
After taking a Haida course at the University of Alaska Southeast in 2010, Sandy Edwardson and her daughter, Susie, started hosting weekly meetings at their home for members of the university course who wanted to keep practicing the language. Edenshaw-Chafin was among the original members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to stop learning when the class ended,\u201d Edwardson said, explaining why she started hosting the Haida Language Learners.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve since moved out of her house and into the Edward K. Thomas Building conference room, where they usually take lessons via webcam from Linda Schrack, a Haida speaker who lives in Ketchikan. (Edenshaw-Chafin was filling in the other day because Schrack was unavailable.)<\/p>\n
The Haida Language Learners aren\u2019t the only Alaska Native language group using the Edward K. Thomas building though. The Sm\u2019algyax Language Learners Group also meets weekly there, for a similar reason.<\/p>\n
In November 2015, David A. Boxley, a Tsimshian carver from Metlakatla, led a Sm\u2019algyax course for Juneau residents who wanted to learn the language. There are only about six fluent speaker speakers left in the state, according to Alfie Price, who took Boxley\u2019s course, and most of them live in Metlakatla. None of them are in Juneau.<\/p>\n
Price, who is Tsimshian, said he began learning the language as a child but lost interest and never tried to pursue it until he started trying to teach his two children recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to teach them made me realize how little I know,\u201d he told the Capital City Weekly. This is why he got involved in Boxley\u2019s course and helped start the Sm\u2019algyax Language Learners group after Boxley left.<\/p>\n
Price hopes that his own children don\u2019t lose interest in learning the language as he did as a child. Edenshaw-Chafin hopes the same for her niece, and she\u2019s working to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
She said her niece only knows one word in Haida: gy\u00fau, which means \u201cear.\u201d But she understands commands in Haida as well as she understands English, if not better.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe actually responds better when I say things in Haida,\u201d Edenshaw-Chafin joked. And this has pressured her brother to learn Haida as well. \u201cHe\u2019s actually taken up Haida a little bit, too, because he wants to learn what she\u2019s saying.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is also a weekly Tlingit language course, which is held in the Downtown Juneau Public Library. Price attends all three Native language courses and said that they are growing increasingly important as the number of fluent speakers in each language dwindles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re feeling some urgency to learn as much as we can because when the remaining last few speakers pass on, the access that we have to learn as much as we can goes away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Edwardson\u2019s hope that the Haida Language Learners group and the other language courses can help. She said that she hopes these classes build a \u201cgrassroots movement\u201d that will allow people who can\u2019t afford to take language courses at UAS an opportunity to learn. The three native language learner groups are all free of charge.<\/p>\n
Edenshaw-Chafin believes Haida (also known as Xaat K\u00edl), Ling\u00edt, and Sm\u2019algyax will survive into the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as we can learn and hopefully keep speakers and instructors, we\u2019ll be good,\u201d she said. She and Price, both of whom are already teaching the next generation Native languages, are working to make that happen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 See page 3 for class dates and times.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Class times<\/strong><\/p>\n Sm\u2019algyax Language Learners Group, 12 p.m., Saturdays, Edward K. Thomas Building conference room (9097 Glacier Highway.)<\/p>\n Tlingit Language Learners Group, 6-7 p.m., Mondays, Downtown Juneau Public Library, large conference room.<\/p>\n Haida language Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Edward K. Thomas Building (9097 Glacier Hwy).<\/p>\n All three Native language courses are open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most Haida speakers probably won\u2019t ever use the phrase \u201cg\u00e1m hl k\u2019\u00e1alaangw d\u00e1ng gat\u00e1a\u2019anggang.\u201d It means \u201cdon\u2019t eat the pens.\u201d But the members of the Haida Language Learners group learned it anyway after their instructor broke off briefly during a recent lesson to stop her infant niece from using a dry erase marker as pacifier. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":15499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15498"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}