Contents
What is a CURA?
How did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA get started?
What principles governed the CURA alliance?
What was the purpose of the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA?
What were this CURA's research and training goals?
What is Community-Based Language Research?
What were the research components of the CURA?
How was the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA governed?
How was the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA managed?
What projects and events were funded by the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA?
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make to how research is carried out?
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make to community-university relations?
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make to Language Revitalization efforts?
Acronyms used in this site
About this site
What is a CURA?
CURA (Community-University Research Alliance) programs provide funding for carrying out research projects in, for and by communities with the collaboration of universities.
CURAs are based on partnerships between community organizations and universities. The partnerships provide the structure to coordinate and support research that reflects each CURA’s goals. CURAs also provide training opportunities for community members and for university students. All CURA programs consist of three main components: Research, Education and Training, and Information Sharing.
CURA grants are awarded by a research-funding body of the federal government known as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
How did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA get started?
The seeds for the development of the CURA were planted in 2001 when John Elliott Sr. approached the University of Victoria for information about ways in which the Saanich Native Heritage Society could work with the university to apply for funding to support SNHS and SENĆOŦEN –speaking Elders in their attempts to document and revitalize the SENĆOŦEN language. John met Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins at that time and work on looking for funding sources began.
At around the same time the Hul’q’umin’um’ Treaty Group hired Suzanne Urbanczyk to prepare a Strategic Plan for Hul’q’umi’num’ Language Revitalization based on consultation with Elders in the HTG communities and on linguistic scholarship on language revitalization.
And, again at around the same time, John Elliott Sr. and Peter Brand began work on the prototype of a web-based archiving and dictionary system for Aboriginal languages. They eventually hooked up with First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation, and the FirstVoices website was born.
Out of the relationships and activities associated with these key events the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA project began to grow: first there was an idea; then an alliance between SNHS, HTG, UVic, FPCF and FPHLCC was formed; then a Letter of Intent proposal was made to SSHRC in 2002; then the alliance was invited to submit an application for funding to SSHRC on June 30 2003; and finally the SSHRC-funded 5-year CURA project began. The start date was January 1 2004.
What principles governed the CURA alliance?
Our CURA was governed by the principles of respect listed below. These guided our work since the alliance was formed:
• All work on the project should ensure that the SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’ communities are able to exercise control over information related to their knowledge and heritage and to themselves.
• Sensitive information will not be made public; the communities will share royalties that might be generated from the research results; the communities will have full access to and copies of all the material produced; communities’ cultural rights to and ownership of the research results will be safeguarded.
• The research should be managed and evaluated jointly by the communities and the other partners.
• The communities should benefit from training and employment opportunities generated by the research.
• The communities should have direct input into developing and defining research practices and projects related to them.
• All languages are equal and should have equal status and respect. Thus the two language groups will be treated equally (although not necessarily identically) within the structure of the grant.
What was the purpose of the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA?
The primary purpose of this CURA was to contribute towards the rebuilding of living language in the HTG and SNHS communities.
The CURA was set up to produce research and materials
• That are directly relevant to the language revitalization goals of HTG and SNHS.
• That are considered to be useful and necessary by the HTG and SNHS communities.
The CURA was also set up
• To develop good working relationships between the local Coast Salish communities and the University of Victoria and to solidify partnerships on issues related to language recovery, revitalization and maintenance.
• To enable the conditions within which activities necessary for language revitalization in the two Coast Salish communities could proceed and progress even after the CURA grant was over.
• To build capacity around language renewal in the communities.
• To enable the SNHS and HTG communities and the University of Victoria to learn more about how to work within the spirit of community-based research.
• To provide information and examples for other Indigenous communities that are involved in their own language revitalization processes.
What were this CURA's research and training goals?
1) To do research to facilitate the revitalization of SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’.
2) To facilitate the development of resources, materials and programs needed to take a step toward the revitalization of SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’.
3) To train HTG and SNHS members in methods of research and teaching/learning which are related to the language revitalization process.
4) To train non-Aboriginal university faculty and students in community-based research and to have community members give them guidance in issues related to culture, protocol and working in and with communities.
What is Community-Based Language Research?
Community-Based Research (CBLR) in this CURA is research that is on language and that is done by, with and for the HTG and SNHS community members.
CBLR is similar to Community-Based Research (CBR). As a research methodology CBR has four basic components:
1) CBR involves collaboration and partnership between researcher and community
2) CBR involves democratization of knowledge: community knowledge, community ways of knowing, community ways of constructing knowledge, and community ways of disseminating knowledge are highly valued by all partners
3) CBR involves social action and social change for the purpose of achieving social justice
4) CBR assumes that research is not simply an intellectual act, but that it is also a practical act which can have practical implications and applications, especially for improving social conditions.
In keeping with the spirit of CBR research philosophy, our CURA grant did not resemble traditional ‘academic’ research projects of the past. The project evolved immensely over the years especially when it came to the development of strong university-community “partnerships” and “relationships”. This is reflected in the fact that all the partners (from the university and the communities) were consulted at every step in the development of the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA Guide which specifically sets out the terms of reference for roles and responsibilities and formal procedures for managing and governing the grant.
Without strong partnerships and relationships between the community-members, the communities and the university the CURA grant would not have been possible.
What were the research components of the CURA?
In the initial CURA grant funding proposal the Coast Salish Language & Revitalization CURA had three principal components. All the individual HTG & SNHS projects that were funded by the CURA grant since 2004 fit into one of these basic components in some way.
A fourth component involving management, governance and intellectual property issues was added as the CURA progressed and it became clear that we were learning a great deal about the value of relationships and rights.
I. LANGUAGE AND REVITALIZATION
The purpose of this component was to facilitate the development of the resources, materials, programs and formal community processes needed to move toward the goal of language revitalization. Examples include language CDs, DVDs, videos, web-based lessons, new curriculum and community coffee-house/language session.
II. LANGUAGE & LINGUISTIC RESEARCH
The purpose of this component was to undertake the research and related activities associated with the revitalization of Hul’q’umi’num’ and SENĆOŦEN. Examples include a language literature review/inventory, research and development of language grammar lessons, research and development of language teacher-training approaches, materials and other resources.
III. LANGUAGE LEARNING & TEACHING
The purpose of this component was to develop, introduce and, if possible, test the usefulness and success of multimedia language learning and teaching tools, including the First Voices tools in development by First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation.
IV. MANAGEMENT, GOVERNANCE & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRUCTURES
Another important aspect of the grant was to develop management and governance structures for the CURA that reflected the unique partnerships and principles of respect on which this CURA was founded. This component of the CURA grant involved developing Memoranda of Understanding between the University of Victoria and SNHS and HTG, developing Research Contracts, and discussing and formalizing roles, responsibilities and procedures for management and governance of the grant.
How was the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA governed?
This CURA was governed by Elders’ Advisory Committees and a Steering Committee.
SNHS and HTG each had an Elders’ Advisory Committee, developed and chosen by the communities associated with this grant. Thus, both SNHS and HTG selected the members of their Elders’ Advisory Committees to represent their language group and their specific organization. The CURA Steering Committee and the coordinators and directors of the CURA grant were guided by the wisdom and direction provided by the Elders’ Advisory Committees. The Elders paid witness as speakers of their language to the loss of speakers of the language.
The CURA Steering Committee served as the main governing body for the project by providing guidance, advice, direction, and approval authority on each of the community-based projects and initiatives undertaken under the CURA umbrella. This was accomplished through regularly scheduled meetings of the Steering Committee, as well as through ongoing communication with the Steering Committee Chair, the CURA Director and the Coordinators.
The Steering Committee was comprised of representatives from each partnering organization. The committee had a Chair, who was chosen by and from the members of the committee. The Chair of the Steering Committee provided support and advice on governance of the CURA, trouble-shooting, and personnel issues.
The governance structure of the CURA, along with terms of reference for the roles and responsibilities of participant in the CURA project have been laid out in the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA Guide. This Guide evolved over the course of the CURA project. For the 2009 version click here.
How was the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA managed?
The Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA was managed by a Director (who was also the Principal Investigator of the project) and who was affiliated with the University of Victoria.
The Director worked collaboratively and closely with three coordinators: the CURA Coordinator who was responsible for coordination of the overall CURA project; the SNHS Community Coordinator responsible for the SNHS projects; and the HTG Community Coordinator responsible for the HTG projects. Some of the individual projects under the CURA umbrella also had Project Coordinators.
The management structure, lines of communication and decision-making processes of the CURA are described in detail in the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA Guide.
What projects and events have been funded by the Coast Salish Language
Revitalization CURA?
The Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA funded more than a dozen projects. It also provided full or partial funding for six workshops and two conferences, as well as providing partial sponsorship for a course offered at UVic:
HTG projects: Naming Ceremonies and Big House Speaking DVDs; Snuwuyulh Project; Cedar-Weaving Project; Stories in Hul'q'umi'num'; Web-lessons; Mentoring Project; CNC Language Workshop 2007; Parks Guide.
For more information about projects associated with the Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking communities, click here.
SNHS projects: Materials Inventory; Philosophy of Living; FirstVoices; The SENĆOŦEN SKÁL ȽTE: The SENĆOŦEN Teaching Grammar, SENĆOŦEN Coffee House
For more information about projects associated with the SENĆOŦEN–speaking communities, click here.
Workshops, Conferences, Courses: HTG Writing Workshop 2004, HTG Immersion Workshop 2004, HTG Curriculum Development Workshop 2004, Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium 2005, International Conference on Salish and Neighboring Languages 2006, Master Apprentice Workshop (Leanne Hinton) 2006, LING 186 Language in First Nations Culture (at UVic) 2006, CURA Planning and Management Workshops 2006.
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make
to how research is carried out?
• Elders worked as lead researchers on projects; this way of doing research moves away from traditional ‘academic’ research projects of the past
• Community members were trained to do language research and/or carried out such research
• The project was informed by the philosophy of Community-Based Research methodology: as much as possible, the projects were based on community needs and feedback, guided by community input, and conducted in partnership
• Elders working on the CURA took lead roles in encouraging a process of adapting the ways in which linguistic “field” research is carried out, including issues of financial remuneration and methodology, and issues of intellectual property
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make to community-university
relations?
• Issues associated with Intellectual Property Rights and “Intangible Cultural Property” were addressed in MOUs developed between HTG, SNHS, and UVic
• The project contributed towards educating administrators and faculty members at the University of Victoria about community-based projects and about how research can be conducted in ways that respect community needs and protocols
• The project has contributed both directly and indirectly to the development of partnerships and relationships between the University of Victoria and the HTG and SNHS communities
• Through consultation and collaboration, the project developed terms of reference for responsibilities associated with different roles that university and community members can play on large research grants. These are laid out in the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA Guide.
What contributions did the Coast Salish Language Revitalization CURA make
to Language Revitalization efforts?
• Documentation of language in use
• Production of materials that can be used in the classroom and in other language learning situations
• Training of speakers
• Increased health of some Elder speakers and therefore their increased activity within the community
• Building capacity around language renewal in the communities
• Facilitation of conditions within which activities necessary for language revitalization can proceed and progress
• An increase in the use of and discussion about SENĆOŦEN and Hul’q’umi’num’ in the communities
• An increase in the use of and discussion about SENĆOŦEN at the University of Victoria: since the CURA started, SENĆOŦEN has been taught through UVIC courses (LING 159, 259), has been studied in two field methods classes (LING 361/500), and a partnership between Indigenous Education at UVIC and the WSANEĆ Indian School Board has been formed to offer an undergraduate program in language revitalization in the Saanich community. The CURA contributed to creating conditions at UVIC that facilitated the development of this program and partnership.
