A language degree becomes a community practice

Where the work begins

Four graduates make up the inaugural cohort of UBC Okanagan’s Bachelor of St’át’imc Language Fluency. The degree was built with community partners and follows earlier Interior Salish language programs at UBCO.

In the field

The source reports fewer than 50 fluent speakers in the northern St’át’imc area, making the cohort’s work part of a much larger effort to keep language in use. Graduates described applying what they learned in early-childhood education, at home and in continued study.

What follows

The story’s most durable image is not a credential alone. It is a circle of learners who supported one another across distance, then returned that learning to families and communities.