Enga mellom fjella

Trip to Pablo

I may not be doing full entries over the next 4 days or reading many blogs so I can focus on some other aspects of my life, but I personally think that having a blue February would be apropo, so on day 71 of blogging each day I only offer this:

My trip to Pablo

Ginny Therriault took me on a trip up route 93 yesterday. It was grey and snowing big flakes. I joked that the mountains hidden by clouds were only to be found in paintings.

Early on we ran into Frances Vandenberg, a Salish elder, one of the few who are fluent in the language.

We stopped at Nkw'sum, a school that teaches in Salish. Spoke with an elder who was teaching 9-14 year olds by having them learn opposites (hot/cold) and using them in their own stories (kinda like Stormy's newsletter contest where she provides 8 words). I learned ch'ch'olsqe' which means 'outside' [I don't know how to find the Salish characters to spell properly]. I also learned lemlmtsh which means thank-you.

A must-see video of colors in Salish! Short, simple and humorous :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv8SucGqah0

We visited the historic church in St. Ignatius. The frescoes were painted by the cook. Very beautiful and serene inside. Salish is only used (except for hymns) on High Holy Days.

Photos: http://www.montanapictures.net/st-ignatius-montana.htm
Photos inside the church: http://lakeshorecountryjournal.com/daytrippers/stignatius.html

Salish Kootenai College link: http://www.skc.edu/about.html

We visited Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, had a late lunch and visited the museum and library. At the library I met April who is an educator working with a linguist to prepare curriculum for teaching Salish. I asked her about the sounds of the language. I had problems with one that sounds like a click to me. I need to practice.

A language link: http://www.cskt.org/hc/salishlanguage.htm [The word for "bitterroot" is one I can't quite pronounce]
Wiki link with table of IPA sounds [linguists may find interesting]:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana_Salish_language

In speaking to Ginny, whose husband is a Salish speaking elder, Frances Vandenburg, folks at Nkw'sum and April at the library it becomes apparent that there are those who really care about the health of the Salish culture and language; however, there is disagreement over how to go about things and internal politics create all kinds of havoc.

The history of the Flathead is one of America. The forced removal of people, in this case to a beautiful highland prairie, to only be further raped by the forced taking of lands; much of the best went to 'homesteaders' who now own most of the valley. Fences went up and the open land was destroyed. The promise of extending the reservation to Canada was also never delivered. The upper Kalispell region is now the playground of rich folks wanting "a view of a mountain". The development is only being checked by the recent economic downturn. The history of America is one of rape and removal repeated as long as there are resources to feed the greed.

It was a beautiful trip and on the way back the sky over the Bison Range cleared up. I managed to find a cherry tart at a stop along the Ravalli curves overlooking sheep grazing and a duck pond. Much is beautiful, but much is scarred as people pave over paradise with their parking lots.

Many thanks to Ginny Therriault and elder Frances Vandenberg.

Montana: 45º at 14:00

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