A year ago this time, the students in the Sm\u2019algyax Language Learners group in Juneau were reviewing vocabulary in the language of the Tsimshian people. On the one-year anniversary of their first meeting, they\u2019re ready to start putting together sentences, said organizer Alfie Price.<\/p>\n
The anniversary meeting on Nov. 19 started out with each student introducing themselves, saying their name and background.<\/p>\n
Bob Ridley told the group he could speak Sm\u2019algyax as a child. Over 60 years of not using it, however, he forgot much of what he knew.<\/p>\n
No matter their language background, that\u2019s something the group members aim to fix.<\/p>\n
The group got started with Tsimshian master carver and culture bearer David A. Boxley came to Juneau in August 2015 to do a four-day class on the language. In November, he returned and did a refresher, and Price decided to to create an opportunity to practice more regularly.<\/p>\n
Price, said fellow organizer Nancy Barnes, is the one who got the group going and keeps it going. (He also attends the Haida and Tlingit language learners groups in Juneau.)<\/p>\n
Price said they feel lucky to have a dedicated group of around ten people who come to the workshops. Not all of them are in Juneau; some participants attend via Google Hangouts. One, Tawny Mayer, Price connected with on Instagram via the hashtag #savesmalgyax. She\u2019s conferenced in from places as varied as Olympia, Washington, Australia, and Standing Rock. Nov. 19, it was New Mexico.<\/p>\n
Some are kids, as well \u2014 Joel Price, 9, Darlene White, 5, and others. Mique\u2019l Dangeli, the new Alaska Native Studies professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, has attended; she is teaching a Sm\u2019algyax course at the university next year, which many of the group\u2019s students are excited about, Price said. Other times, fluent speakers have traveled to Juneau to share some of what they know with the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just frankly excited that we\u2019ve lasted a year and are keeping going,\u201d Price said.<\/p>\n
The group welcomes new members \u2014 there was even a first-timer there Nov. 19. They meet each Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska\u2019s Edward K. Thomas Building conference room, 9097 Glacier Highway.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Capital City Weekly editor Mary Catharine Martin at maryc.martin@capweek.com. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n To read about an upcoming Tlingit language learners group event, go to page 31. To read previous stories about language revitalization and learners groups in Juneau, see<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.capitalcityweekly.com\/stories\/080316\/ae_1269599034.shtml<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.capitalcityweekly.com\/stories\/090215\/ae_1257558815.shtml<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.capitalcityweekly.com\/stories\/121714\/new_1232067163.shtml<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A year ago this time, the students in the Sm\u2019algyax Language Learners group in Juneau were reviewing vocabulary in the language of the Tsimshian people. On the one-year anniversary of their first meeting, they\u2019re ready to start putting together sentences, said organizer Alfie Price. The anniversary meeting on Nov. 19 started out with each student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":23346,"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-23342","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\/23342","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=23342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23342"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}