SHI to host lecture on teaching safety through X̱aad Kíl

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will host a lecture on the creation of an original children’s book written in X̱aad Kíl (Northern Alaskan Haida).

In her lecture, “Teaching Safety Through X̱aad Kíl: Intergenerational Learning, Grammar, and Cultural Responsibility,” author Kihl Gúul Jáad Emily Edenshaw-Chafin will speak about the process of developing a book that teaches children to communicate about bodily safety. Rather than translating an existing resource, she began the project by analyzing X̱aad Kíl and Haida values to determine how children should be able to understand and talk about their bodies.

Edenshaw-Chafin is a Haida linguist, educator and Ph.D. student in Indigenous Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her work focuses on revitalizing languages, fostering Indigenous language education and creating original X̱aad Kíl resources for children and families. She has worked with the language for over 20 years and is raising a first-language X̱aad Kíl speaker.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) currently lists X̱aad Kíl as a critically endangered language. In the introduction of “Dictionary of Alaskan Haida,” which was published by SHI in 2010, author Dr. Jordan Lachler says X̱aad Kíl is “one of the world’s most endangered languages—only about 50 speakers remain in all of the Haida communities.”

In her lecture, Edenshaw-Chafin will speak about her experience developing the book, including the decisions she made regarding language, illustrations and publishing. She will also share the lessons she learned regarding the function of Indigenous languages as a tool for children and families to use today.

The lecture will be held from noon-1 pm, Thursday, Sept. 10 in the Clan House on the first level of Sealaska Heritage Institute, which is located at 105 Heritage Way in downtown Juneau. Edenshaw-Chafin’s lecture will be live streamed and available to watch on SHI’s YouTube channel.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a non-profit tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cross-cultural understanding by educating the general public about the Indigenous cultures of Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, a Southeast Regional Language Committee and an Education Committee.

Caption: Photo of Kihl Gúul Jáad Emily Edenshaw-Chafin. Note: News outlets are welcome to use this photo for coverage of this story. For a higher-res version, contact kathy.dye@sealaskaheritage.com.