A new Craig-based non-profit has been established with the mission of empowering and nurturing the local Haida community and heritage. H.E.A.L., which stands for Haida Ethnology and Advancing Language, announced its formation on March 11 with an aim of helping young people in the community reclaim Haida language and culture.
“Íitl kíilang t’aláng sḵ’at’áang,” Rob Yates, a Haida language teacher and founding board member of H.E.A.L., said in X̱aat Kíl. He explained that this means ‘We are learning our Indigenous languages.’
Yates is certified with the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s “Our Language” pathway program and also teaches through the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida. He considers himself somewhere between intermediate and advanced but not fluent.
“It’s so important to speak the language on the land, because our ancestors spoke it and learned, and our ancestors can hear us. They also help us and guide us. So it’s really important to bring it back and normalize it,” said yates. “We don’t want it thought of as a foreign language because it’s not foreign. It comes from here.”
The organization plans to offer workshops, classes, and resources to Haida community members and their families. Yates said that the land that Craig occupies used to house three Haida villages. The last fluent elder in Craig passed away in 1983.
“There isn’t this type of nonprofit here in Craig – that’s trying to revitalize the language. And we’re desperately low on Haida language teachers and speakers. And we want to change that. We want to normalize the language. And we need to raise more speakers. But even more importantly, more teachers. If we don’t raise up more teachers, then we’re gonna be in serious amount of hurt as far as saving the language goes,” Yates said.
He added that the organization is grassroots and the goal right now is to raise community support, as well as find fun and engaging ways to get people interested in the language.
H.E.A.L. hopes to hold its first workshop on the first Saturday of June at the Craig Tribal Hall.
