First Nations PhD grads take knowledge back to community

UBC’s Okanagan campus celebrates its first two Aboriginal PhD graduates this week. Both say they are taking what they have learned back to their Okanagan communities in the Syilx traditional territories, which extend from B.C.’s south central interior to north-central Washington.
Michele Johnson learned the Nsyilxcn language, which is spoken in the Syilx First Nation territory, and is now teaching it to others in an effort to bring it back from the brink of extinction. An Indigenous language activist, Johnson is currently pursuing post-doctoral research in Indigenous language revitalization through Simon Fraser University and teaching new cohorts of learners. More...