Language Keepers

                June 17, 2026  | Wednesday 

People in history I admire 

I admire the Language Keepers of my tribe past, present & future. But especially, the language speakers past of my tribe. Without them, we would have lost our language & a huge part of our cultural identity. 

As a little girl I remember hearing my mom's boyfriend speaking our Indian language. Everyone on The Rez called him Uncle Allen so that's what I called him, too. 😊 He spoke our Muckleshoot language fluently. He was one of the few tribal members left who could speak our Muckleshoot Indian language. 

I remember having this overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy when I first learned that we had our own language. As a little girl, I knew it was important & extremely special. I didn't understand why at the time. I might have been 9 or 10 years old when I first heard words spoken in my Muckleshoot language. 

We were going somewhere. Uncle Allen, Mom, someone else & me. I don't remember where we were going & I don't remember who the other person was, but he spoke our language fluently, too. It was the coolest thing ever, listening to the two of them carry on a conversation in Muckleshoot. I wish I could go back in time & have a voice recorder and record their conversations. Or, even film them with a video recorder or my cellphone. Those everyday moments are really important. It might seem like we were just traveling in the car, but that moment had an impact on my life because that was the moment when I heard words spoken in my Muckleshoot language for the very first time. 🥰

I admire all of the language keepers of every tribe/tribal nation. It's something special. Profound. And, sacred. To learn and then preserve the language of your People. The sacred language and voices of your ancestors who helped to carry every tribal language into the future. There are many beautiful souls who helped preserve our language as a whole. I raise my hands up to all the language keepers of my tribe and all other tribes, too. It's a huge part of our cultural identity & cultural preservation. 🤲🏽

Other people in history who I admire are the ones who helped preserve our culture. And, those who stood by our People during the Fish Wars. As a sovereign nation we have treaty rights & the government wasn't allowing us to fish in our own land & waters. It takes a special kind of strong to stand up & fight for your treaty rights & go head to head against the government. I wasn't born yet when The Fish Wars began, but if I had been, I would have loved to been a part of it. ✊️❤️💛🤍🖤

I admire the courage & bravery of all of the Freedom Fighters. ✊️❤️💛🤍🖤 Past and present. 

XoXo ⚘️ 


Love, 


Me 



💜💜💜


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