Language is such an important part of our everyday life and culture, but did you know that 2022 marks the beginning of the Decade of Indigenous Languages?

In light of this, I wanted to share with you a few key phrases important to the Tlingit and Haida people on whose land I live and work in Lingít Aaní:

Haa Kusteeyí, or “Our Way of Life” encompasses four core values:

• Haa Aaní (Our Land: Honoring & Utilizing our Land)
• Haa Latseení (Our Strength: Strength of Body, Mind, and Spirit)
• Haa Shuká (Our Past, Present, and Future Generations)
• Wooch Yáx̱ (Balance: Social and Spiritual Balance)

Learn more about these values, listen to the phrases pronounced, and practice saying (and singing) them!! Visit this great educational website and lesson plan.

Leading up to the New Year, we challenged our community to come up with a list of words and phrases everyone should know. Here they are in a word cloud!

And, here are all of the responses we received... thank you to everyone who participated in this fun challenge to build a shared vocabulary!

• No.
• Yes.
• Help.
• Name.
• Age.
• Address.
• Capacious.
• I'm thirsty.
• I'm hungry.
• I'm sick.
• I'm hurt.
• I'm tired.
• I'm unsafe.
• I'm safe.
• I'm sad.
• I'm happy.
• I'm special.
• I'm worthy.
• I love you.
• I need help.
• Enough/all done.
• Self-reflect often.
• Black trans folx matter!!!
• Find who you want to be.
• There is a balance in everything.
• You are worthy of basic respect and love even at your worst.
• Find the balance between independence and asking for help.
• Gender-inclusive education is affirming for all and life-saving for some!
• There are times to rely on others and times where you must work on your own.
• We have so many habits and things we thought were “normal” but weren’t healthy.
• Consent and Assent should be words that everyone should know and understand and respect.
• Remember your parents did the best they could with what they were taught. The rest of your growth is up to you.
• People should know words for labeling emotions. There would definitely be variety in the definitions, but each person should be able to communicate how they feel about things.
• "And". I think "and" is one of the most important and underrated words in human language. We live so much in our world of "or" that we lose sight of the power and possibilities that come with and. For example, I can be afraid and do what is important to me. We can have different ideas and we can work cooperatively. It's a word that brings people and ideas together.
• Empathy is very important to connect and understand people. Understanding people and why they are the way they are is important but having your own self-respect is just as important because we need boundaries as to how people are allowed to treat us.

There were two winners chosen from all of the submissions, and those two people (Peggy and Alyson) will be receiving FREE access to the Maloney Method 6-Part Workshop. Additionally, they will be joining our Radical Learning Community for the first month FREE... come join us for a unique opportunity to learn in community!

Register for one of our upcoming PAX Tools Community Workshops to learn how to build stronger relationships with your family and friends, and get to know our community! Choose from one of these dates 1/7, 1/14, or 1/21. REGISTER HERE