Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins

Evva Chy-Kovska-Higgins is an associate professor of linguistics at the University of Victoria with a special interest in language revitalization. A researcher of the Salish languages of southern Vancouver Island, Evva is honoured today for her work as principal investigator for the completion of the Community-University Research Alliance Project known as the Coast Salish Language Revitalization Project. She created a model of collaboration that was respectful, ethical, healing and instructive between five First Nations groups and the University of Victoria. As a result two Coast Salish nations are on the path to reclaiming their languages and making them fully alive again. This remarkable outcome is credited to the perseverance and respect of this dedicated academic.