About

The Online Learning Project

The Ditidaht Language & Culture program is part of the Ditidaht Community School located on-reserve at Nitinaht Lake, BC. The program delivers K-12 language instruction and programming for adults and others in the community. Many Ditidaht members live away from the community, however, so the Online Learning Project is being developed to ensure that all Ditidaht members can access learning opportunities for their rich and unique language in a convenient and engaging way.

The online classroom was created in 2018 by a team of determined elders, teachers, linguists, and community members. At present, there are only half-a-dozen fluent speakers of Ditidaht, all of whom are in their 70s and 80s. The website is thus an act of language revitalization.

Our Team

Dorothy Shepherd – Fluent Speaker, Language Instructor

Sarah Tom – Language Instructor, Language Nest, Kindergarten Immersion, and grades 1-3

Pat Patterson – Language Instructor,  grades 4-6, High School and Adult

Dr. Adam Werle – Consulting Linguist, University of Victoria Linguistics

Dave Mason – Teacher, Project Coordinator

Jean-Philippe Marquis  Filmmaker

Mapster – Web development (developer team)

Speakers and Voices

As you will experience, our lessons are presented with video, audio, and graphic illustrations. We have relied heavily on the expertise of fluent speakers in the community who have graciously and generously volunteered their time to carefully record words to help students hear and experience the language. All of these speakers also volunteer to support teachers from the daycare to adult evening classes in helping community members speak the language. We are very grateful for their contributions!

Christine Edgar

Fran Tate

Mike Thompson

Dorothy Shepherd

Our Partners

The Online Learning Project is proudly supported by:

The Ditidaht First Nation

Pacheedaht First Nation

FPCC – The First People’s Cultural Council of BC

FNESC– The First Nations Education Steering Committee