SPOKANE, Wash. — At the Salish School of Spokane, children learn, speak, and sing the Salish tongue. It's regarded as an endangered language with only two born native speakers left. The Spokane Salish School is working to keep the language and culture of interior Salish alive.
“It’s not gone. And it is learnable," teacher Grahm Wiley-Camacho explained. "So, for our language, it’s impossible for it to ever be truly lost now because it’s so well documented. It’s like Latin, it’s always there if you want. We just aren’t in the dire straits that some other languages are in where they don’t have that tool and that documentation."
As the students at the school learn Salish, the goal is that they will be able to carry on a conversation in the language.
"So, we call fluency the f-word," teacher Dominique Wiley-Camacho said. "Our goal is always can you talk to people, about the things that matter in your life and what you are doing. If you can do that, then yeah, that’s what fluency is."
The Spokane Salish school is one of only two of these types of schools that exist in an urban setting across the entire country. But like the original language of the land since time immemorial, this school is not only growing but is here to stay.
“The kids need to know this is something that can exist even outside of this space," Dominique Wiley-Camacho said. "They need to have people that they can talk to. They need to know that their language can take them not just in this space with friends but also into academic spaces. I want them to feel like this is their home base, they can always have a place here but also, definitely go out into the world and you with your friends take it on.”
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: Search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
Apple TV: Search "Spokane News from KREM" in the Apple store or follow this link.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.