ARLEE, MT — From beading to basket weaving, every station at the annual Selis Qlispe Cultural Camp in Arlee is connected by one thread: keeping the Selis Qlispe language alive and passing it down to generations to come.
The five-day camp brings families together for hands-on learning. The Selis Qlispe Language Program says its mission is to preserve, protect, and perpetuate the Salish language.
(WATCH: Salish Language Apprenticeship Program works to preserve language and culture at annual camp)
Salish Language Apprenticeship Program works to preserve language and culture at annual camp
Ardon McDonald is a student in the Salish Language Apprenticeship Program, an intensive two-year study.
“For everything we do we have words…whether it be for stick game, singing…if we continue to do these things and integrate language it keeps coming back..it keeps coming back,” McDonald said.
Apprentice students help host learning stations at the camp, which invites families to learn by making traditional cultural dresses, beading, and singing.
Selis Elder Shirley Trahan says the language is more than understanding and speaking it — it is how the Salish people perceive the world and the things they do.
“We have to take care of the language and culture to make sure it lasts forever,” Trahan said.
“There’s more to it than just knowing the language and culture, you have to live those ways,” Trahan said.
For Trahan, whose first language was once threatened, efforts like this camp bring her joy.
“That makes it hopeful that it will keep on going for as long as people want it, but if people just let it go and not do anything about it, it is not going to be here anymore,” Trahan said.
Graduate Lydia McKenney says the program has helped her connect to community after she lost her mother to suicide.
“I think it was hard for my mom to connect, she was away from home, so when I found out about the program so I can make those connections to my family,” McKenney said.
McKenney and her partner Mars Sandoval, also a language apprentice, say the program has allowed them to preserve and perpetuate the language in their own home and life.
“We do our best to use as much language as possible, it’s important to carry that on and with him,” Sandoval said.
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