WAYK Chinuk Wawa Workshops?

[Elena O'Neill]

Hello/Laxayam!

I live in the Seattle area and would love to participate in a WAYK Chinuk Wawa meet-up (tiki chaku-kumtuks chinuk wawa naika). Does anyone know if WAYK will hold any Chinuk Wawa workshops in Portland this year?

Thank you/Mahsie!

Elena

[WAYK Media Team]

Hi Elena!

Thanks so much for your interest in WAYK and Chinuk Wawa! 

Just for the sake of clarity, WAYK does not sponsor any Chinuk-specific meet ups or workshops.  Chinuk is one of a few languages that WAYK uses for demonstrating language learning/teaching methods during workshops and events, only because it happens to be a language that several WAYK facilitators know.  We really don’t teach Chinuk at workshops; rather, we teach WAYK using very, very basic language, either Chinuk, Latin, ASL, Spanish, Mandarin, Alutiiq, or hən̓q̓əmin̓əm (depending on the WAYK facilitator and the audience).  Because some WAYK players have personal interest in and knowledge of Chinuk, they often participate in meet-ups or conversational groups, but those aren’t official WAYK events. 

Most of WAYK’s workshops for the next few months will be in Alaska, not in the Portland/Seattle area.  We hope you are able to find a local Chinuk loʔloʔ, especially if it’s one where some participants happen to know WAYK.  We also recommend looking into the Chinuk classes offered at Grand Ronde.  You can contact Kathy Cole, the Cultural Education and Outreach Program Manager, to find out more. 

Good luck! 

The WAYK Team

[Elena O'Neill]

Thank you for your help and clarification. I'll check out the Grande Ronde resources.

All the best,

Elena