Students at the Tulalip Montessori School in Tulalip, Washington. Photo from Tulalip Youth Services
The Tulalip Tribes of Washington are keeping the Lushootseed language alive for future generations. The Tulalip Montessori School teaches the language to children ages three though five. The tribe is hiring more teachers and plans to expand the program to more ages. "How are you going to sing songs you don't know the meanings to?" teacher Maria Martin told KUOW. "How are you going to provide any traditional connections without the language? I feel you need to know the language, if only some of it, to really understand the whole culture." Only a handful of adults at Tulalip are still fluent in the language. But other tribes that also speak Lushootseed are interested in preserving it. "All the Lushootseed-speaking tribes are really putting in a concerted effort, and they are starting to work together more readily," David Sienko, a media developer for the Tulalip Tribes, told KUOW. Get the Story:
Keeping Lushootseed Language Alive In the Voices of Youth (KUOW 6/1)
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