By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, B.C. – Ten years ago, Hesquiaht First Nation and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ elder Nicki Love McCarthy asked Nuu-chah-nulth knowledge keepers if they knew of any words that described queerness. Through a flurry of texts, emails and Facebook messages, the knowledge keepers were able to bring these words forward, and McCarthy generously shared them during a Sunday, April 13 afternoon presentation in the Sičquuʔuƛ (Sitch – KHOO – ootl) Theatre in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s Kwisitis Visitor Centre. Sičquuʔuƛ is the late Barbara Touchie’s Nuu-chah-nulth name and means “a dorsal fin coming around a point of land”. Touchie was dedicated to revitalizing Nuu-chah-nulth language and culture. Parks Canada renamed the theater after her in 2016. “I’m very grateful for the language people. Our…
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