Dakelh Dictionary Launch

This draft lexicon contains material from Dakelh as it is spoken by the Nadleh and Stella Whut’en people. It began with about 1200 words collected over the years by Bill Poser, to which were added several hundred words, mostly body parts and kinship terms, compiled by George George, Sr. in 2003 and hundreds of words compiled by Emma Baker in 2015. More recently, beginning in 2017, a group of elders assisted by Dennis Patrick and Eleanor Lowe made further additions and revisions.

Our language is our identity, it connects our communities, and our Dakelh language is tied to our traditional land. We know who we are and where we come from. We are preserving our cultural heritage, traditional values, and the valuable knowledge for generations yet to be born.
– Chief Larry Nooski, Nadleh Whut’en (May 2019)