CBC Indigenous: Taking Skwomesh beyond the classroom →

Char George looks at a tree after learning its traditional name during a class field trip to the traditional longhouse at Chiyák’mesh stakw, a piece of land on the bank of the Cheakamus River, just north of Squamish, B.C. (Dustin Patar)

Char George looks at a tree after learning its traditional name during a class field trip to the traditional longhouse at Chiyák’mesh stakw, a piece of land on the bank of the Cheakamus River, just north of Squamish, B.C. (Dustin Patar)

Four years ago, a report on the status of B.C. First Nations languages listed Sk̲wx̱wú7mesh sníchim, or Skwomesh,  as "critically endangered," having only seven fluent speakers remaining.

But that’s starting to change.