How many of us in BC can say "hello" in the language of the people on whose traditional territory we live, work and play? Hadih is the traditional way to say hello in the Lheidli T'enneh dialect of Dakelh.
You might find yourself expanding your vocabulary - and appreciation for the state of Indigenous languages spoken in B.C. - after visiting The Exploration Place to view the Our Living Languages: First Peoples' Voices in BC and Mary Gouchie: Hubodulh'eh.
A traveling exhibition of interactive stations, video and audio from the Royal BC Museum and First Peoples' Cultural Council, Our Living Languages showcases the efforts of First Nations communities throughout the province to help 34 different languages survive and flourish.
Mary Gouchie: Hubodulh'eh, an in-house exhibit, showcases one Lheidli T'enneh Elder's commitment to language revitalization. She was considered instrumental in the recovery and documentation of the written and spoken Lheidli T'enneh dialect of Dakelh.
"As part of reconciliation efforts, stimulating and facilitating the connection to Indigenous language is a roll we are embracing," said museum curator, Alyssa Leier.
"As part of our efforts to help preserve an increasingly endangered language, we are working on several initiatives including working with the Lheidli T'enneh on the digitization of a large collection of oral histories spoken in the Lheidli dialect of Dakelh.
"These are invaluable sources of cultural knowledge and it is critical that they are preserved. This exhibit showcases this kind of work and the urgency it requires."
Both exhibits open on Sunday and run until Jan. 6.
