Meet G̓vu̓í (Rory Housty), the host of the @NativeLangsTech Twitter account for June 13-19

In 2019 as part of a social media campaign to celebrate linguistic diversity online ^[1], Native American and First Nations language activists and advocates will be taking turns managing the @NativeLangsTech ^[2] Twitter account to share their experiences with the revitalization and promotion of Native American and First Nations languages. This profile post is about G̓vu̓í (Rory Housty) (@rhousty ^[3]) and what he plans to discuss during his week as host.

Rising Voices: Please tell us about yourself.

Ǧvu̓íxƛanúgva. Haíɫzaqvq̓amnúgva. gáyáqḷanúgva la tx̌as N̓úlú gṇugva N̓úláw̓itx̌v. Gvúkvḷánúgva la tx̌as Wágḷísḷa. P̓álanúgva la Haíɫzaqv College-ax̌i gṇugva Q̓áq̓úƛ̓a Haíɫzaqvḷa. W̓úgvaqanúgva q̓áq̓úƛ̓amas qi la qs gvúkvláutax̌i.

My name is G̓vu̓í (Raven). My English name is Rory Housty. I'm Haíɫzaqv and I come from N̓úlú. I live in Wágḷísḷa and work at the Heiltsuk College. I learn to Haiɫzaqvḷa and teach my fellow villagers to Haíɫzaqvḷa.

I graduated from Vancouver Island University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology & First Nations Studies in 2012. When I returned home I made it a passion of mine to learn the first language of my great grandparents, Haíɫzaqvḷa. I've been learning and teaching Haíɫzaqvḷa ever since. I'm grateful to all my elders, past and present that have gifted me with Haíɫzaqvḷa.

RV: What is the current status of your language on the internet and offline?

The Haíɫzaqv have been very proactive in language revitalization. In the 1970's our Tribal Council hired a linguist to help us preserve and document our language. A two volume dictionary with grammatical instructions and many more documents have been created. Our elders were also recorded on cassette tapes and those tapes are now being digitized by the Heiltsuk Cultural Educational Centre. This is a project I participated in while I worked at the centre.We are currently working with our elders to record for the First Voices language archive & will be launching our app soon. Many generations of Elders have devoted their time and lives to the revitalization of our language. We are grateful for them all!

Heiltsuk Cultural Educational Centre ^[4]

Haíɫzaqvḷa resources ^[5]

RV: On what topics do you plan to focus during the week that you’ll manage the @NativeLangsTech Twitter account?

Language Revitalization
Language & Social Media

RV: What are the main motivations for your digital activism for your language? What are your hopes and dreams for your language?

My dream is for my people to be able to Haíɫzaqvḷa and for another generation to again be born into Haíɫzaqvḷa. Being active on social media has made it easier to reach our people that want to learn Haíɫzaqvḷa.