La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

My heart soared to read “New app helps students learn Lushootseed language” article (April 6 Weekly News). Although only a handful of paragraphs were devoted to the new native language learning program to be offered at La Conner schools, it was great and happy news in a nutshell. It was not stated but hopefully the program will be offered and encouraged at all grade levels.

Perhaps it is because my career was in speech-language pathology that it grieves me when I too often read of indigenous languages being lost. This is happening with alarming frequency and worldwide. With the loss of...