The WAYK team is excited to announce our next summer project. In 2026, our Summer Language Intensive will take place in Port Hardy, British Columbia. We will be continuing our partnership with “the Treehouse” Language Program at the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations on the Tsulquate Reserve.
The Treehouse runs an immersive program for adult learners of Bak̕wa̱mk̓ala/Kwak̕wala. Their team runs programming that includes learners and Elders from GNN as well as several neighbouring communities. During the school year, learners are enrolled as full-time students in Simon Fraser University’s Indigenous Languages Program (INLP). Learners are able to complete 2 years of programming through the SFU INLP. They work towards a Certificate in their first year and a Diploma in their second year. When not partnering with SFU on post-secondary programming, the Treehouse team has run several summer programs. These summer programs have focused on program planning, proficiency development, curriculum development and more.
The WAYK team has been collaborating with the team at the Treehouse as their program has grown since 2020. We completed our first Summer Intensive project with them in 2022, an online Summer Intensive with their team over Zoom. This was a great response to pandemic concerns, but not something we’re eager to duplicate any time soon!. WAYK returned for frequent visits, including an in-person Summer Intensive in 2023 and a “mini” Summer Intensive in 2024. We supported the launch of their first SFU cohort in September 2022. We have returned each September since then to welcome the new cohort and help the team train in WAYK.
The Treehouse program is working to grow their team of learners each year. This will provide more opportunities for interested learners to become new speakers of Bak̕wa̱mk̓ala. At the same time, the team is working to build a strong community of learners. This summer, the WAYK team will work with the current group of learners and speakers at the Treehouse. The team that comes together in Port Hardy will build on the existing work done over the past several years. Over the course of the Summer Intensive (May 11th — July 31st, 2026), we’ll work towards the Treehouse program’s major goals:
- to steadily increase the proficiency of all participants from first years to instructors
- to develop an immersive, collaborative curriculum that will keep the program strong for years to come
- to maximize time working in immersion with Elders from GNN and neighbouring communities
- to make new teachers of Bak̕wa̱mk̓ala that work both within the existing program and with other organizations to meet the larger community’s language needs
The host communities for past WAYK summer projects have included:
- Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (2011)
- Yurok Nation (2012)
- Kodiak Island (2013)
- Tsleil-Waututh Nation (2014)
- St. Paul Island (2015)
- Atka (2016)
- St. Paul Island (2017)
- APIA in Anchorage (2018)
- Tsleil-Waututh Nation (2019, 2020, 2021)
- Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations (2022, 2023, 2024)
If you’re interested in joining the WAYK team for the 2026 Summer Intensive, there is a new way to get involved this year. Apprenticeship positions are being offered through our partner organization Language Teacher Toolbox. For more information check out this post about our switch to an apprenticeship model. Visit the Language Teacher Toolbox website to learn more about the program.
Applications for apprenticeships are open now through February 28th!
