Over long talks with his son, 69-year-old Bill Recalma, is unlocking the treasure of his memory, and the Pentl’ach language that he was once forbidden to speak.
“My son’s my safe space and I can speak with him,” said Bill Recalma, an elder of the Qualicum First Nations.
Pentl’ach has fallen silent for decades, since the 1940s according to researchers, but is coming back to life through Recalma, the last known speaker of the currently labelled extinct language.
“When you speak there’s a rhyme to it, it flows,” said Recalma. “It brings back great memories of my childhood.”
“It’s great to have that vault opened and not be punished for what we actually know.”
Indigenous language researchers, who are Recalma’s son and nephew, are now helping him mine the language stored in his memories — recording the words and phrases that were once taught to Recalma’s late Great Uncle Alfred.
“I was raised by my great uncle Alfred and he taught us the language and he told us we should never ever speak the language and yet he knew that we should know,” said Recalma.
“He said that Alfred would almost sing when using the language,” adds Jessie Reclama, Bill Recalma’s son.
“I do believe we were called upon to bring this spark around and starting to spread it,” said Mathew Andreatta, a language researcher and Qualicum First Nations member.
A ceremony will be held Friday, as an official reawakening of the Pentl’ach language and with funding from the province.
Researchers are hoping Pentl’ach will soon be declared the 35th official Indigenous language in B.C.
“We’re to be proud of who we are and that’s why our language is coming out. It’s great,” said Bill.
Skye Ryan
