Students at Chief Leschi School in Puyallup, Washington. Photo from Facebook
The Puyallup Tribe of Washington is keeping the Lushootseed language alive for future generations. Preschool and elementary students at the Chief Leschi School are learning the language. They are taught by instructors like Amber Hayward, a tribal member who learned Lushootseed as an adult, and Zalmai Zahir, who learned the language from one of the last fluent speakers. “It’s life work,” Hayward tells Crosscut. The efforts will continue as the Puyallup Tribal Language Program and the University of Washington host the Lushootseed Language Institute this August. The two-week immersion program -- the first of its kind in ancestral Lushootseed territory -- will train a new group of language teachers. Get the Story:
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