Saving Salish, one speaker at a time

ST. IGNATIUS — Rose Bear Don’t Walk, a rising senior at St. Ignatius and recent FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) Champion, is standing by a stream in Ronan City Park, clutching two medals in her left hand and examining a plaque in her right hand.

Wearing the traditional Salish dress of a floor length turquoise robe and beaded slippers, Bear Don’t Walk stands out from the other park-goers who are dressed for the afternoon’s 95 degree heat. Despite her discomfort, she has a calm smile and maintains a sense of humor.

“Children are staring,” she says, gesturing with her eyes to the monkey bars. She’s right: a group of kids has stopped playing and is now watching, with artless fascination, as Bear Don’t Walk continues to pose for the 20 minute photo shoot. Unruffled by the attention, Bear Don’t Walk continues to smile and answer questions with easy affability.

It’s this laid-back poise that has afforded her so much success in her 17 years, says Michelle Nigh-Mogstad, a tour associate at the Missoula Children’s Theater who has mentored Bear Don’t Walk over the last few months.

“Rose has a real presence. She’s got a great head on her shoulders and she’s wiser than her years,” Nigh-Mogstad said. “A lot of roads are going to be open for her in the future.”

Even among her frenetically-busy high school peers, Bear Don’t Walk’s schedule is hectic: supplementary classes, volleyball, singing and acting pursuits, including the Missoula Children’s theater, and FCCLA — the activity that came to dominate her junior year at St. Ignatius.

FCCLA is a national organization dedicated to family, and involvement with the club can take a number of different forms. School chapters can collectively perform service projects — the Mission chapter, for example, volunteers at the senior center and the food bank. Or, individual students can compete in FCCLA sponsored state tournaments.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Bear Don’t Walk became the first St. Ignatius high schooler to take advantage of that program and compete, as an individual, at the Montana tournament.

The catalyst to her increased involvement: the dying Salish language.

“I’m a descendant of the Salish tribe, and I live on the reservation. But I realized I don’t know what’s going on in the ceremonies I attend,” Bear Don’t Walk said. “I decided I wanted to learn more about the Salish language.”

So two years ago she set out to learn more; what she found out frightened her. There are currently fewer than 50 native Salish speakers on the Flathead Reservation. Only six years ago there were over 200. Classified as “endangered,” Salish, the voice of Bear Don’t Walk’s family and tribe, could soon fall silent.

Bear Don’t Walk began attending Salish classes at the Native American Teachers Training Institute. She augmented her studies with conversation with tribal elders and a trip to the Celebrating Salish Conference in Spokane.

But learning the language herself wasn’t enough; she wanted to get other people involved. FCCLA’s competition included an Interpersonal Communication category — Bear Don’t Walk had found her platform. As she would later tell judges at the national competition, “my project is nothing less than to save the Salish language, one speaker at a time.”

Terry Cable, FCCLA moderator for the last 17 years, said she observed a deepening of Bear Don’t Walk’s commitment to the club over the last year. “She’s a great kid and was always a good club member, but she really stepped it up this year,” Cable said.

Armed with note cards, a poster board and a project drawn from the very core of her being, Bear Don’t Walk headed to the state tournament, held in Billings, March 17-19. Judges there were impressed by her passion and awarded her the highest score in the Interpersonal Communication category. But they were not as impressed by the format of her presentation; everything in FCCLA must relate to family and Bear Don’t Walk’s presentation did not make that connection clear, judges said. Her silver medal would not be enough, it seemed, to get her to the national tournament.

But soon after, FCCLA officials contacted Cable. They wanted to know if Bear Don’t Walk would be interested in attending nationals, and if she was, would she be able to get her project up to snuff?

Cable assured them, without hesitation, that Bear Don’t Walk would be able to. Over the next few months she tweaked and improved her project, and July 10 she boarded a plane bound for Anaheim, Calif.

“Good day everyone, my name is Rose Bear Don’t Walk and I’m so happy to be here today,” she said, in Salish, to the panel of judges at the national competition.

Throughout the five-minute presentation she described the joy of speaking Salish to her two little cousins who attend Nkwusm, the Salish immersion school in Arlee, and told judges about her newfound pride in being able to better understand powwows and tribal ceremonies.

“Sharing [this] bond and sharing this culture helps the entire tribe move forward,” Bear Don’t Walk told them. “The young people learning Salish today are the elders of tomorrow…As we hold on to our traditional ceremonies, which have been perpetuated in Salish for thousands of years, so must we hold on to our way of speaking and thinking. My name is Rose Bear Don’t Walk, and I’m doing my part to keep this language alive, for myself, my community and my family.”

Bear Don’t Walk’s presentation won a gold medal, the competition’s highest honor.

The FCCLA 2011 competition has passed, but Bear Don’t Walk’s dedication remains. She’s continuing to improve her Salish and educate other young people about the importance of embracing Salish language, the foundation of their culture. But according to Bear Don’t Walk, she wants to tackle a new issue, possibly one related to the environment, for FCCLA in her senior year.

She’d also like others to experience the club that she’s grown to love so much.

“I have lots of plans for our chapter. I want more people to become involved because there’s an event for everybody.”