Exciting news has come out of the Qualicum First Nations as the once-considered ‘sleeping language’ has successfully been labelled as an awakening language. The pentl’ach (pronounced punt-lutch) language which was traditionally spoken in what is now Cape Lazo to Parksville and a little bit west of the areas, has officially become the 35th First Nations language recognized in British Columbia.
pentl’ach became labelled as a sleeping language when the last known fluent speaker passed away in the 1940’s. Revitalizing the language has been a long-time effort, but in 2017 under the leadership of Chief Michael Recalma, they formed a language reclamation team and began working on bringing back the language to a living status.