Northwest Indigenous languages

This year at Salish School of Spokane, two new co-executive directors have stepped up to take on leadership roles at the school after longtime executive director LaRae Wiley (Sinixt) transitioned to a new part-time role as elder-linguist and to serve on the organization’s board of directors.

A number of Washington state public schools are partnering with tribes to bring Indigenous languages into classrooms in an effort to rectify the marred history of Native American boarding schools.Rachael Barger is a teacher on special assignment with Bethel School District, one of the districts partnering with the Nisqually Tribe to bring its Southern Lushootseed language into the classroom for a small subset of students.