Museum Speaker Series: Marilyn James

Marilyn James, Sinixt Smum iem Matriarch, will speak about dialect revitalization and how it is directly connected to the important work of counter-mapping (and vice versa) at the museum at 3 pm on Wednesday, April 28th.

Due to gathering limitations, this presentation will be accessible virtually on Zoom - pre-register here: https://bit.ly/3dVNnSK Marilyn's presentation will also explore reasons why the Sinixt dialect was largely lost in the first place to better situate the need for this work of revitalization. Finally, she will also discuss the various projects that her group - Blood of Life Collective - is working on around dialect revitalization and what we can expect to see in Rossland as a result of that work!

Marilyn James was the Spokesperson for the Sinixt Nation in the Canadian portion of her people’s traditional territory for over 25 years. She continues to be active as an elder in the responsibility of upholding Sinixt protocols and laws in the Sinixt tum'xula7xw under Sinixt smum iem law. She holds a Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University and has developed aboriginal curriculum currently being used in four BC School Districts and on the provincial web platform. Marilyn is an accomplished Storyteller in the Sinixt tradition and has told stories to a wide variety of audiences of all ages in schools, at public gatherings, and festivals. She is the co-author of “Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way” (Maa Press, 2018) as well as publications in anthologies and academic journals. She has also presented at academic conferences. She is an ardent advocate for human responsibilities toward land and water. She is a mother of three and has eight grandchildren.

This presentation does not have a fee, but donations to the museum to continue this series are always welcome: rosslandmuseum.ca/donate

We thank the Trail & District Arts Council and Gabriella's Restaurant for supporting our Speaker Series program.

The Museum is open year-round! Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. Our current travelling exhibition on display is Our Living Languages from the Royal BC Museum - entry free for members; included in regular admission for non-members. Check out our website https://www.rosslandmuseum.ca/ or find us on Facebook & Instagram.