HAIDA ROOTS
LANGUAGE PRESERVATION & ARTS

CONTEXT: We have very few native speakers of our language alive today.

The last generation that learned our language from birth (before the boarding school era) are in their 90's.

 

Our organization began with a question, "How can we help save our language?".  Our mentor's response,

"Connect with and learn from Jane Kristovich, a fluent birth speaker of the Masset Haida dialect,

in her 90's living in your area (Seattle). She is a gem in your presence, do whatever it takes to work with her!"

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We began seeking small grants to pay her for teaching us. We created a program that would suit her needs best. Bringing 3 Haida elders, Jane, Jeanne Jimenez and Joyce Alexander together for lunch and to relax and just laugh, sing, visit. We were able to capture video recordings of this time with these 3 matriarchs. The videos we captured are shared freely with our Haida Language community with more in the works.

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After Jane passed, our mentor Ben Young approached us at her memorial saying "you did it!". Her daughter Lisa Telford honored us with her beautiful cedar bark weaved hats and said, "My mother loved her time with you ladies, háw’aa for honoring her”.

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Because of our work with Jane, in 2019 Haida Roots became an official non-profit organization. Today (2026), we are still going strong. Jane's apprentice (Sondra Segundo) continues to work with Joyce and Jeanne and  is actively recruiting next generation apprentices from ages 6 to 28 to attend online Haida Language classes and to work with language teachers in Alaska, Hawaii, Seattle. We've hosted intergenerational online classes and in person regalia making & language camps. Our newest program, Haida singing class for children.

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Singing and speaking our language is healing us. Being able to be in Jane's presence has encouraged us to keep going with this important work!  Watch this video below (and more) from our Haida Roots Youtube channel of a conversation between

sisters Delores Churchill & Jane Kristovich.