Learning Gitxsanimaax at Wrinch Memorial Hospital
By Samantha Ponting, HSA Communications
Angie Combs, aboriginal patient liaison worker at Wrinch Memorial Hospital in Hazelton, BC, recalls that staff at the hospital would occasionally ask her to teach them some words and phrases in Gitxsanimaax, the language spoken by the Gitxsan First Nation. The hospital is on Gitxsan territory, which spans 33,000 square kilometers across northwest BC.
“I started with speaking phrases like, ‘How are you today,’” said Combs.