Home of: Linda Ferris
Linda Ferris (right) plays with her children, Siliye, 12 and Ignace, 3, as another daughter Susseli, 10, watches. Ferris has two more children not pictured, her daughter Maii, 14 and her son Atwen, 1. She often uses Salish when doing activities in order to pass along the endangerred language to her children.
Statistics show a language dies every two weeks around the world. It is estimated that half of the world's languages will never be uttered again after this century.
Like many other Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille tribal members attempting to pass along their languages, Linda Ferris is determined not to have the Salish language fall into that statistic.
The only thing that sets her apart is that she's not Salish. She's part Klamath and Modoc, two tribes that derive from the southern Oregon and northern California regions.
Ferris was raised in Portland, Ore., after she was adopted by her step-father following her mother's death. She was never taught her native language and never learned much about her cultural identity.
Ferris moved to the Flathead Indian Reservation 18 years ago. Her cousin who had moved here invited her to visit.
"I was looking for a way out. From a very young age, I knew I couldn't stay in Portland," Ferris said.
After a few years living on the reservation, Ferris met and married her first husband, who is Salish.
"I decided to learn Salish when I was pregnant with my first child," Ferris said. "I wanted to teach them what wasn't accessible to me as a child, which was language and culture."
Ferris is now a student and project manager at the Native American Language Teacher Training Institute at the Salish Kootenai College.
NALTTI, which was created more than three years ago by Joshua Brown, is a Salish teacher-training program based on immersion in the language and using everyday conversation.
The institute was created from a grant, and is currently in need of financial support after the grant funds ran out.
"We hope that NALTTI can continue to exist. Our method of learning language may be a tool for other tribes to use," Ferris said.
Ferris enrolled her first daughter, Maii, in public school, later enrolling her in the Nk'wsum Immersion School after Maii pleaded with her.
"She used to tell me, ‘Why can't I go to Nk'wsum mom? It's my language too,'" Ferris said.
Maii went through the selection process and was admitted the following year.
"Nk'wsum is doing a great job teaching our children their identity," Ferris said.
Ferris has been greatly influenced by her late teacher, Supi Mays.
"I've been blessed, I have always had a good teacher. Supi has always been my teacher," Ferris said.
Ferris believes that it is important for older generations to teach Salish to the younger generations.
"The youth is the next generation of our leaders, we need strong culturally educated kids so that we can develop a stronger Indian community in the future," Ferris said.