A narrative of resistance and resilience spanning seven decades in the life of a tireless advocate for Indigenous language preservation. Life histories are a form of contemporary social history and convey important messages about identity, cosmology, social behaviour and one's place in the world. This first-person oral history—the first of its kind ever published by the Royal BC Museum—documents a period of profound social change through the lens of Sti'tum'atul'wut—also known as Mrs. Ruby Peter—a Cowichan elder who made it her life's work to share and safeguard the ancient language of her people: Hul'q'umi'num'. Over seven decades, Sti'tum'atul'wut mentored hundreds of students and teachers and helped thousands of people to develop a basic knowledge of the Hul'q'umi'num' language. She contributed to dictionaries and grammars, and helped assemble a valuable corpus of stories, sound and video files—with more than 10,000 pages of texts from Hul'q'umi'num' speakers—that has been described as "a treasure of linguistic and cultural knowledge." Without her passion, commitment and expertise, this rich legacy of material would not exist for future generations. In 1997 Vancouver Island University anthropologist Helene Demers recorded Sti'tum'atul'wut's life stories over nine sessions. The result is rich with family and cultural history—a compelling narrative of resistance and resilience that promises to help shape progressive social policy for generations to follow. About the Author: Cowichan Elder Sti'tum'atul'wut Mrs. Ruby Peter has been a tireless advocate for Hul'q'umi'num language protection and preservation for many decades. She is the co-author of the Hul'q'umi'num Dictionary, published by the Cowichan Tribes. She co-taught Hul'q'umi'num courses at Vancouver Island University and was an early proponent of collaborative language teaching approaches that emphasized traditional Cowichan pedagogy. She holds honourary doctorate degrees from the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University. Molly Peter is a daughter, grandmother and great-grandmother from Cowichan Tribes territory. She has worked in Cowichan Tribes Child & Family Services for over 26 years. Like her mother, she has shared the importance of cultural teachings, values and beliefs with her offspring and community members along with the value of achieving an edu\cation. Helene Demers is an honorary research associate in the Department of Anthropology at Vancouver Island University. |