Haida Heritage Centre begins posting “Haida Word of the Week” on Facebook

Capital City Weekly staff report

On Saturday, the Haida Heritage Centre began posting a “Haida Word of the Week” video. The video features heritage center staff members and visitors to the building pronouncing a word in the Haida language; this week’s word is mama ts’iik’ay, the Haida word for dragonfly.

The video was posted by Haida Language Learners, a Facebook group organized to “follow the journey of those who are studying/living the Haida language” and to connect users to language classes.

View the word-of-the-day video here: https://www.facebook.com/kaay.llnagaay/videos/10207889599497605/?fref=nf.

To view more videos posted by the group, visit www.youtube.com/user/Haidalanguagelearner

Earlier this month the group also posted a link to a YouTube video that shows how to pronounce and respond to a basic greeting in Haida, led by Haida speaker and teacher Benjamin Young of Hydaburg. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9eo5sLUlDg

The Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay opened in 2007, and celebrated its grand opening in August of 2008. The Centre is located at Bay Llnagaay or “Sea-Lion Town,” an ancient village site, and was designed to resemble the traditional oceanside Haida village that once stood in its place. The center houses the Haida Gwaii Museum, performance house, carving shed, Canoe House, Bill Reid Teaching Centre, two classrooms, a welcome area, and Kay Bistro. Some of the organizations located within the Haida Heritage Centre include Northwest Community College, Haida Gwaii Higher Education Department, Swan Bay Rediscovery and the Haida Gwaii Watchmen program. Find out more here: http://haidaheritagecentre.com/the-centre/

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