PENDLETON, Ore. — Pendleton Early Learning Center teacher Sarah Yoshioka gathered her students before ceding the floor to Shawndine Jones and Mildred Quaempts.
Jones, a heritage language teacher, and Quaempts, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation language coordinator, started the lesson with the Umatilla afternoon greeting: niix pachwy. “Niix pachwy!” more than a dozen kindergartners chanted back.
For four days a week, Jones and two reservation volunteers, Quaempts and Linda Sampson, visit each classroom and teach the kids Umatilla language and culture through the Walk to Language program. In its first year, the program has not only received praise from the Pendleton School District and the reservation, but also Gov. Kate Brown, who observed a lesson in March.
On a recent afternoon, Jones and Quaempts were teaching the children about salmon. After teaching students the Umatilla names for the varieties of salmon such as chinook (tkwinat), coho (sinux) and sockeye (kalux), the teachers gave students cotton balls scented with chocolate or cinnamon and asked them to find a similar scent in the classroom, evoking the way salmon use scent to find the stream where they were born to spawn. Jones and Quaempts ended the lesson by handing out crackers topped with salmon meat and a salmon-themed activity book from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Quaempts recalled how different the district approached American Indian language and culture when she was a student at the early learning center, then known as Hawthorne Elementary School. Quaempts recalled her teacher correcting her vociferously on her first day of school, making her use her American name instead of her Indian one. Quaempts said those memories of feeling alone makes her feel honored to teach the next generation more inclusively.
Walk to Language plays a part in keeping the Umatilla language alive. The two other languages of the tribes that belong to the reservation — Walla Walla and Cayuse — have died out and only a handful of native Umatilla speakers remain.
Quaempts said it’s important for the non-Native students, as well. She said white farmers and ranchers used to learn Umatilla words to speak with their Indian neighbors, and teaching nontribal members could similarly expand their cultural understanding.
The children seem to be retaining the Umatilla vocabulary and stoking their cultural curiosity. Whenever a student runs into Quaempts in the community, they excitedly greet her with a “niix pachwy” or its morning or evening equivalent and begin asking her about other words.
Early learning center faculty members say the kids pick up on the language faster than the adults.
“It’s the highlight of their week,” teacher Joshua McGraw said.
As Walk to Language winds down its first year, Quaempts said she’s already committed to coming back next year to continue the lessons.
