Photo credit: Michele Johnson
What: Alternowledge discussion series – Nsyilxcn Language Revitalization in the Okanagan
When: Friday, April 17, 7pm.
Where: Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 421 Cawston Ave., Kelowna
Cost: Free
This month’s Alterknowledge discussion will focus on the Nsyilxcn Language in the Okanagan.
Nsyilxcn is the language of the Syilx (Okanagan) people and, like all languages, it is inextricably interconnected and interwoven with the landscape, stories, community health, and the way of being of its speakers. Since the intrusion of non-Indigenous settlers in the Okanagan, Nsyilxcn has become an ‘endangered’ language. However, language teachers and activists are now working to create new speakers.
Join Nsyilxcn language teachers Michele Johnson and Hailey Causton for a discussion about language learning, revitalization, and activism in the Okanagan and beyond.
Recognizing knowledge as a form of power, and acknowledging how structures of power shape what constitutes knowledge, AlterKnowledge provides a venue for so-called “alternative” knowledge to be shared and valued and for dominant systems of “knowledge” to be altered.
The AlterKnowledge Discussion Series is organized by FCCS faculty members, Allison Hargreaves and David Jefferess.
Information about future discussions can be found on our web page, www.ubc.ca/okanagan/fccs/news-events/ongoing/alterknowledge.html