Encouraging use of conversational Kaska in adult speakers through Kaska language practice sessions

The Kaska language is a critically endangered Athabaskan language spoken in the southeast Yukon and northeastern B.C. Currently, Kaska is no longer being transmitted to younger people and the fluent speakers are generally over 65 years of age. Kaska people are in a language loss crisis and if steps are not taken to stem this steady language decline, the Kaska language will become extinct. Through a series of adult Kaska beginner conversation practice sessions, this project looks at the language attitudes and current challenges adults wanting to learn Kaska are experiencing. In addition, the sessions were taught in the Pelly Banks dialect to interrogate whether the author, a speaker of a different dialect (Lower Liard/Muncho Lake), could learn across dialects. Recommendations about future activities for adults and for community projects are proposed to increase the use of the Kaska language in all domains and through daily use.