PABLO — People from all across the nation have been meeting in Pablo this week for the Early Childhood Tribal Language Summit.
It's an interactive exchange with the purpose of keeping Indigenous languages alive for generations to come.
For the fifth year, the Early Childhood Tribal Language Summit brought together language learners of all ages so they could grow as speakers and share knowledge.
"Our language has never left. Our language will never leave," shared Kootenai and Pend d'Orielle attendee Becky Knapp. "It just makes me happy just to hear the language again," she continued.
Knapp lived away from her home reservation for 20 years but now she is dedicated to bringing language back into her life.
"My mom is fluent and my grandbaby, Georgie, she also speaks the language. It's here every day."
At this year's language summit, the theme was multi-generational learning.
"That's how I learned. I was a grandparents' baby. I was always with my grandmas," Blackfeet teacher and presenter Shay Tatsey told MTN. "And so, you know, that's two generations for me too."
Tatsey is a fifth-generation learner and speaker who is immersing her students in Blackfeet.
"The only way that we can keep this going is — we're the language keepers here — we have to teach the next generation to do it," she shared.
Tatsey is just one of the many presenters hosted by Salish and Kootenai College. Plus, her goal, like those who put on the conference, is to increase access to languages.
"This is about us all coming together and supporting each other, no matter what level you're at," said Director of the National American Indian/Alaska Native Headstart Collaboration Office Micker Richardson. "You're learning techniques that you may not have incorporated yet that you learn from others who have incorporated that and it's just a better way of finding ways to, to better the revitalization of the languages overall," he added.
The speaking doesn't stop when the summit ends, lessons travel home with those who've learned them.
