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Writer's pictureRenee Baron

The Power of Indigenous Language and Story

Updated: Dec 15, 2021

This fall, I had the opportunity to participate in North Island College's Introduction to Kwak’Wala course (KWA - 096). Kwak' Wala is one of the languages originally spoken by local Indigenous peoples here, in the K'ómoks Valley. Mu'lan. I am grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to participate in the revitalization process of an Indigenous language. Mu'lan for the stories wrapped in words. Ixk'asalan. I am happy. I am happy for the chance to listen and learn about the subtleties and nuances which are captured in grammatical textures, helping to paint a more dynamic picture of a people whose history has nearly been erased. I say Gilakas'la, thank-you, to my teachers.



As my final project, I chose to write a story entitled, Kira and the k̓wax, incorporating Kwak'Wala words. It not only served to expand my vocabulary, but also helped me to process one of my children's recent neurodiverse diagnosis. It is a story that flowed out within a couple of hours and one, that I hope you will enjoy. I used Sway as a means to tell the story, a storytelling tool I had never heard of before this project. The collaged images were made together with my daughter and were chosen based on what was in my craft box and therefore, imagination is required when evaluating image accuracy.


Click on picture below:

https://sway.office.com/LNZVRG0wqafe5aTq?ref=Link

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