UBC Library digitizes Indigenous language dictionaries

As part of an ongoing effort by the UBC Library Digitization Centre and cIRcle, UBC Library is making Indigenous language dictionaries more accessible by digitizing these works and making them available through UBC Open Collections.

“Within the province of British Columbia, there are 32 First Nations languages—eight are severely endangered and 22 are nearly extinct. Language revitalization projects and supports are crucial in redressing the impacts of colonialism, and allowing for communities to have cultural sovereignty,” says Kayla Lar-Son, Acting Head of Xwi7xwa Library. “Within the past few years the number of active Indigenous Language learners grows each year in British Columbia. Providing access to rare materials for community members can aid in the increase of language learners and adheres to the concept of Indigenous data sovereignty as we are now providing access to once hard-to-find materials.”

Down the winding trail to digitization

Published in 1996, the Thompson River Salish Dictionary was printed as part of a specialist series dedicated to the study of Indigenous languages of the Northwest. Encapsulating decades of scholarly field research and the cumulative knowledge and expertise of many members of the Nɬeʔkepmxcín community, this unique work is now widely accepted as the authoritative dictionary of the Thompson River Salish (nɬeʔkèpmxcín) language.

It is also extremely hard to find a physical copy.

Only two such copies are available at UBC: in the personal collection of faculty member Dr. Henry Davis, professor in the UBC Department of Linguistics, and in Xwi7xwa Library’s special collections, as a non-circulating copy.

Thompson River Salish Dictionary, by Laurence C. Thompson and M. Terry Thompson.

In 2022, Dr. Lisa Matthewson, professor in the UBC Department of Linguistics, selected Thompson River Salish (nɬeʔkèpmxcín) as the language of focus for the Field Methods class, but quickly ran into a logistical issue. Students in the course would be expected to work on original research projects focused on Thompson River Salish. But how would a whole class comfortably share one dictionary?

Dr. Murray Schellenberg, the Research and Archives Manager for the UBC Department of Linguistics, decided to reach out to Xwi7xwa Library to see if the department could borrow their book, keeping it safe in the department’s reading room for the duration of the course. Instead, UBC Library offered an alternative solution. If the dictionary could be digitized by the library and made publicly available online, then every student in the class would have access.

The only obstacle would be securing the rights. Both co-authors, Laurence C. Thompson and M. Terry Thompson, had passed away years prior, and the book didn’t have a traditional publisher. So Dr. Schellenberg went searching for answers. His first stop was Dr. Davis, owner of the other copy, and whose research for the past 20 years has focused on the critically endangered Indigenous languages of British Columbia.

“If anybody knew who had the rights to this [dictionary], Henry did,” recalls Dr. Schellenberg. The answer, according to Dr. Davis, was surprisingly simple. It was Tony.

Dr. Schellenberg  learned that the Thompson River Salish Dictionary was published by Dr. Anthony (Tony) Mattina, a now retired faculty member at the University of Montana, as part of a series called the University of Montana Occasional Papers in Linguistics.

Dr. Davis offered to reach out. “And two days later, we had approval in principle to digitize the book,” says Dr. Schellenberg.

The UBC Library Digitization Centre began work on the dictionary soon afterward, and within three months the full volume was available on UBC Open Collections. While the Field Methods course had to make do with only one copy of the dictionary through the first term, by the second term, every student could access the book.

Finding a home in cIRcle

The Thompson River Salish Dictionary is one of several Indigenous language dictionaries now available through UBC Open Collections, including nɬeʔkèpmxcín : Thompson River Salish Speech, An English-Squamish Dictionary, and the Sechelt Dictionary.

Sechelt Dictionary, by Ronald C. Beaumont (Ronald Clayton).

With digitized materials like these, the Digitization Centre works closely with cIRcle to provide open access. As UBC’s institutional repository, cIRcle provides permanent Open Access to published and unpublished material created by the UBC community and its partners.

Traditionally, the materials sent to cIRcle are primarily theses, dissertations and research articles. “I think that’s what most comes to mind when people think of institutional repositories,” says Tara Stephens-Kyte, a Digital Repository Librarian at cIRcle.

But sometimes, the research materials that cIRcle receives are not as easily categorized, like the Thompson River Salish Dictionary. “When material comes to us, it’s because there’s a reason to believe that cIRcle is the best home for it.”

Once the material has been scanned and edited by the Digitization Centre, ready for its new digital home within the repository, the team at cIRcle figures out how to describe the item, adding metadata that maps to UBC Library’s standards and best practices. The team also ensures that the appropriate permissions are in place, such as the distribution rights for previously published works.

“It’s really about asking questions to figure out where to get that information from. If there’s a published version of the work, we can go to the publisher for distribution rights,” says Stephens-Kyte.

In the case of An English-Squamish Dictionary, a graduating project written in 1973, the journey to digitization was a little more unusual, says Stephens-Kyte, and the result of a combined effort from past and present library employees. While a physical copy of the dictionary already existed in the Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) catalogue, emerita librarian Margaret Friesen, who had been a friend of the late author, discovered that a digitized version did not yet exist at the library. Coordinating between the Digitization Centre, RBSC, and the author’s spouse, who was able to sign the license, Friesen helped the dictionary find a new, digital home at cIRcle.

“Especially with these retrospective items, we’re not in a position of guessing what the person wanted. Trying to map what cIRcle is today with what people understood about access and distribution 40 years ago is really challenging. We’re trying to establish what is the most ethical and responsible way to ensure that everybody is on board and that there are no barriers to access for the item,” says Stephens-Kyte.

The impact digitization and open access can have is not limited to scholarly endeavors either.

“It’s not just for the students, because it’s a huge book,” says Dr. Schellenberg, referring to the Thompson River Salish Dictionary. “It’s for the community members. It is basically the only dictionary of that language that exists, and now you can carry it around on your phone.”

If any Indigenous community members have questions or concerns about the digitization of these materials, please reach out to the UBC Library Digitization Centre or contact Bronwen Sprout (bronwen.sprout@ubc.ca).

This project is part of UBC Library’s strategic direction to create and deliver responsive collections.

Learn more about our Strategic Framework.