I appreciate we have embraced Stó:lō culture as a community and are including the language in naming landmarks and public buildings. It makes for a much more inclusive community by normalizing differences between groups and allowing previously stigmatized people a place in society.
But I would appreciate a pronunciation guide. As a native English speaker, it is a very different way of writing out the language, and I think many other people are in the same situation as myself. More needs to be done to make this cultural integration inclusive. I wonder if it would be helpful to use phonetic spelling beside the correct spelling? It might not be quite as correct a pronunciation, but it is better than people calling it “that school over there.” When people learn a new language they retain it better if they actually use it.
Shawn Carlsen
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