Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series: "Kwak′ wala Language Revitalization: Is It Possible?

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Friday, October 21st, 2016
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

In this lecture, Professor Laura Cranmer will draw on her recently completed PhD dissertation from the University of British Columbia, a study of language reclamation entitled "Reclaiming Kwak'wala through Co-constructing Gwanti'lakw's Vision." A 2014 report by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council found that of the 7,309 people making up the Kwakwaka’wakw population, there are currently only 160 fluent speakers and 497 self identified semi-speakers.

Looking to the future, one of the primary recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to encourage Indigenous language revitalization. Says Cranmer, "I hope my work contributes to that goal." Cranmer's studies are academic, but they are also personal. As a teenager and young mother, her paternal grandmother, Gwanti’lakw took many photos of their large clan of relatives who have connections to far-flung villages within Kwakwaka’wakw territory. "Gwanti’lakw was responsible for my care as an infant and during my formative years," says Cranmer, "and I knew her as Mom until I grew older and could understand my true beginnings and place in our family."

In her research, Cranmer used a selection of Gwanti’lakw’s photos to prompt fluent Kwak’wala speakers to converse with each other. For example, a photograph of family members at Dzawadi, the Kwak'wala name for what maps label Knight Inlet, was very effective at drawing out one speaker. Cranmer then transcribed the interviews as a way of not only preserving the dialogues, but also advancing her own understanding of the language. "In my thesis, through an autoethnographic narrative and analysis," she notes, "I provide a reflection on my engagement with Kwak’wala and its speakers and on my identity as an adult language learner attempting to reclaim Kwak’wala." Those who were raised in a heritage language environment but who do not speak that language now are considered latent or semi-speakers.

As one of those latent adult speakers attempting to recover Kwak’wala, Cranmer will address issues and challenges particular to latent adult speakers and learners of Indigenous languages. "This is a story of reclaiming language and identity by merging theories and methods of second-language acquisition with stories and memories of childhood," she says. Cranmer has taught in the in the First Nations Studies program at Vancouver Island University, on Snuneymuxw traditional territory, since 2000. Not only has she learned much about her research topic, her academic training has helped her to make meaning of her life experience as a residential school survivor.

https://www2.viu.ca/arts-and-humanities/Arts_Humanities_Colloquium.asp