About

Nuu-waa-ghii~-li~ shu' dv-ghee nay-srii-ghit-'a:

Nuu-da'-ye' xaa-maa naa-daa-ghitlh-nvsh;
Nuu-waa-tr’vslh-a~ shu'-nee-ghitlh-'i~;
Nuu-hii-du’-waa-te 'aa-ghitlh-sri.

Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation Mission Statement:

Honoring Our Past;
Serving Our Tribal Family;
And Controlling Our Future.

 

Wee-ya' (Language) Program

The office is located at 380 Dat-naa-svt Loop, Smith River, CA 95567
707-487-9255

The Wee-ya' Program aims to restore the Tolowa Dee-ni' language to a thriving, viable, spoken language through the creation and expansion of speech communities for the assurance of its future and continual use in all aspects of our community's daily life.

In order to achieve the goal of creating and expanding speech communities the Wee-ya’ Staff have a number of activities and programs aimed at reaching this goal, including:

  • Community Language Classes
  • High School Language Classes
  • Working with our Tribal Head Start
  • Mee-ne'-dvn (Home Place) – Language in the Home Program
  • NDN-tivities (Culture Classes)
  • Tolowa Dee-ni' iOS App
  • Tolowa Dee-ni' Android App
  • Curriculum development
  • Collaborating with local agencies to promote awareness and use of Tolowa Dee-ni' wee-ya'

In order to promote language use, the themes of our curriculum often focuses on language that can be used everyday. By focusing on language that can be used in the kitchen, dining room, living room or other areas of the home, we intend to give language learners the skills and abilities to use the language outside of the classroom environment. Other themes we focus on include: cultural activities, stories, geographical locations and cultural awareness.

 

Wee-ya’ Committee

The Wee-ya’ Committee consists of 7 Tribal Citizens working together to advise the Wee-ya’ Program on its vision, planning and implementation of our Wee-ya’ programs and activities.

Loren Me'lash-ne Bommelyn- Chairperson

Teri Keevil – Vice-Chairperson

Daraxa Mattice

Ch'vski Jones-Scott

 

 

Wee-ya’ Staff

Marva Jones, Language & Culture Manager

Mattie Bommelyn, Language Specialist

Guylish Bommelyn, Language Teacher