Revitalizing Native languages of the Colville Reservation
through immersion schools
ʔaluspuʔús
Enroll Your child
509-422-5653
Welcome to
HEARTS GATHERED
We are a non-profit organization organized for educational and literary purposes- specifically to preserve and promote the use of the Native languages on the Colville Reservation.
An immersion school utilizes a people’s first language to teach students in all subjects.Immersion schools have developed as an alternative to the public school system in the knowledge that the students will have a far richer education when learning in their native language and through a culturally relevant curriculum.
Classes, activities and special events encourage our students to build strong and respectful relationships with each other, their families, their community and the natural world.
ʔaluspuʔús
The people of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are made of distinct tribes or bands and so there are three Native languages. Our Native languages (nqlqilxʷcntət) have not been spoken in our homes as first languages for well more than a generation. Only a few fluent Native speakers remain on the Colville Reservation. Residents here have grown accustomed to speaking and knowing in a foreign tongue – English. Our languages were fading from use.
Hearts Gathered was formed to revitalize the languages by operating language immersions schools on the Reservation. According to the Colville Tribal Languages Director, the current number of speakers for each language are:
Nselxcin: 17 Fluent Speakers, 14 Semi-Fluent Speakers
Nimipu: 4 Fluent Speakers, 3 Semi-Fluent Speakers
Nxa?amxcin: 2 Fluent Speakers, 4 Semi-Fluent Speakers
Our successful program adds to a beautiful new category of speakers- the emerging speakers. We invite you to explore our site and learn more about Hearts Gathered!