Prophet River First Nation promotes language revitalization with new courses

PROPHET RIVER, B.C. — Beginning in December, Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) is offering a pair of cultural courses.

“Beaver: The Language of our Lands” and “Connections to our HeARTLand ” hope to incorporate cultural vitality and reflect meaningful history about language, family, and land.

According to PRFN’s Director of Education Leah Asher, planning for the course is “out of the box” and will be offered to band members, both on and off reserve, and in person and online.

She says as final touches are being made before the start, it’s an “exciting” time.

“Anytime a nation can dive deeper into their language and culture, those are the best opportunities and the richest opportunities we can deliver to members,” said Asher.

“All Nations’ priority always is and should be, language and culture. Anytime we can design programming and also provide education, that’s where the answers are.”

Colleen Austin will instruct each of the courses offered by PRFN.

Although currently living in Mexico, she will be providing instruction through Zoom with plans to visit Prophet River for in-person instruction in the spring.

With ancestral ties to the T’it’q’et First Nation of Lillooet, Austin has an extensive history with linguistics and education.

 Her work includes contributions to First Beaver Story and Beaver Basics 1, featuring Dane-Zaa (Beaver) Language elements and Indigenous sign language, in collaboration with Blueberry River First Nation back in 2022.

“She’s very versed in language instruction,” says Asher of Austin. “Not anybody can just teach a language course, or not anybody can just take teach a culture course.”

“Because it’s designed specifically to profit encompassing the beaver language and culture, Colleen has that linguistic background.”

The courses will involve students collaborating to create a book resource to share with family, friends, and fellow PRFN members.

This will allow further development of language revitalization, says Asher.

Registration is currently open, and the course will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday evenings, with dinner provided.

“Beaver: The Language of our Lands” and “Connections to our HeARTland” will begin on December 1st and 2nd and finish in June.

Further information about the courses is available on PRFN’s website and Facebook page