Don Addison. Photo by Larry Johnson.
Numu, Eecheeshkeen, and Kiksht
with Don Addison
[audio:https://www.wisdomoftheelders.org/prog306/mp3/306_sn.mp3]Arlie Neskahi:
Welcome back to Wisdom of the Elders.
Don Addison:
Halito! I’m Don Addision and this is Speaking Native.
Three Native languages survive on the Warm Springs Reservation today: Northern Paiute (also called Numu), Sahaptin, or Eecheeshkeen, and Wasco, known as Kiksht.
August 1955. Fishing at Celilo Falls, where The Dalles dam was later constructed. In the background, an American Indian prepares to take a fish out of the net from a scaffold. Photo courtesy of Ernest Smerdon.
Today the reservation has a vibrant language program of fluent Native speakers in all three languages, resulting in a growing number of younger speakers. Nchi-wana, meaning “the big river,” is the name of the Columbia River. Nchi-wana.
Until next time, yakoke !