Hul'q'umi'num' heroes: Reclaiming language through theatre

Xe’xe productions performing hw’ittsus Ihqel’ts (Jealous Moon) by Chris Alphonse and Ruby Peters

The goal of this project is to stem the decline of the Hul'q'umi'num' language by bringing traditional stories about heroes to life in dramatic performances that spark and hold the interest of language speakers, language learners, and the general public.

The territory of the Hul'q'umi'num' people extends along the Salish Sea from Nanoose to Malahat on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Today around forty fluent first-language speakers remain, mostly over the age of sixty, and thus Hul'q'umi'num' is considered an endangered language. However, amongst the population of over 6000 Hul'q'umi'num', there are many people who desire to learn the language or to improve their fluency. Our project will bring the language to the eyes and ears of the community, and, for the participants, it will help unlock their ability to speak Hul'q'umi'num'.

Coast Salish culture is centered on performance and storytelling. Most of the Elders we work with are rich in traditional knowledge, have much to say on the subject, and have decades of experience in mentorship. Stories have previously been recorded in Hul'q'umi'num' and transcribed and translated by our experienced team of native speakers and linguists, giving us a collection of oral histories and a digital archive to work from. The language teachers have devoted much effort over the past years to studying traditional stories and to learning to create authentic-sounding new stories. In this three-year project, our team will embark on the next step---turning stories into theatre.

In a series of workshops with Elders and language teachers, several stories were selected, learned, and then re-designed as dramatic art. The research team interpreted the stories through techniques of image work, sculpting, movement, improvisation, dialogue, and music.

The research model endeavoured to foster the connection between young performers and the Elders who served as their mentors. The project also supported the training of Hul'q'umi'num' youth and teachers in performance and technical skills, as well as research techniques. Our team of Hul'q'umi'num' knowledge holders and academic experts supported the development of a range of resources to be used by teachers in their efforts to integrate drama in into their classes as a tool for language revitalization. Our hope is that by making the language accessible and entertaining, we will galvanize a new generation of language learners.

Over the course of the three-year project, a drama troupe was also formed that performed the plays in public at various venues throughout the Hul'q'umi'num' territory. This included a performance at the first ever Indigenous Theatre Festival held at the University of Victoria in September 2022.