UCLA

This research explores traditional weaving knowledge and values as a context for language learning. I focus on Twulshootseed, also known as Southern Lushootseed or Puget Sound Salish, and Puget Sound weaving traditions to better understand the role of community in language revitalization. Where programs may often compartmentalize language learning, this project frames weaving as an expression of language, situates community spaces as a site to bring together fragments of revitalization, and engages specific traditions around weaving to build a model for language learning that is holistic and individual. To do so, I draw on research pertaining to language learning, history around the documentation and revitalization of Lushootseed, traditional and modern applications of Puget Sound weaving, as well as my own family’s knowledge.