Inaugural Lecture – Dr. chuutsqa Rorick

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Inaugural Lecture – Dr. chuutsqa Rorick

Tuesday, September 16th, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.

PCN 2012 6445 University Blvd

Title

Place-Based Indigenous Language Revitalization in Hesquiaht First Nation Territories

Abstract

Indigenous language revitalization can be a relational process that reconnects learners and speakers to place, ancestors, and future generations. This talk shares place-based Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) approaches emerging from Hesquiaht territory, focusing on how land-based immersion, community-led curriculum development, and intergenerational collaboration strengthen Indigenous language learning.

Drawing from over a decade of work with Hesquiaht fluent Elders, this talk will explore how land-based learning and Hesquiaht epistemologies guide immersion program design, curriculum development, and evaluation frameworks. It will also consider how digital tools can support community-led ILR without replacing Elder-led pedagogy, grounding technology within relational accountability and Nation-specific protocols.

Bio

chuutsqa Layla Rorick is a Hesquiaht woman, researcher, and educator specializing in Indigenous language revitalization and land-based education. She holds a PhD from the University of Victoria, where her dissertation focused on Hesquiaht Language Flow and ancestral continuity through land-based immersion. She has worked with Hesquiaht fluent Elders for over a decade, collaboratively authoring resources and designing land-based language immersion camps rooted in Hesquiaht pedagogies.

She has collaborated with over 15 Indigenous communities, contributing to the co-creation of language curriculum, immersion programs, and digital archives grounded in community governance and relational accountability. Her work advances Indigenous data sovereignty while building scalable models for ILR that align with place-based teachings and support the development of more advanced speakers.

chuutsqa’s work has included the collaborative development of community-controlled digital storytelling and archival platforms. Central to her research is the understanding that Indigenous languages are living expressions of sovereignty, relational responsibility, and ancestral continuity, and that ILR work can reconnect people to the land and waters from which these languages arise.