Tth’ulsul’t-hw Merle Seymour is an Elder, Knowledge Keeper and fluent speaker of the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. He is from Kwa’mutsun and is a member of Quw’utsun’ Tribes. Merle and his sister were raised by their grandmother, Suysuyutth’e’ Agnes Eli Billy, his mother’s mother. From her, Merle learned to speak Hul’q’umi’num’ and was taught important cultural and traditional activities including the processing and preparing of wool.
Merle worked as a teacher of young children for more than twenty years, both for School District #79 (Cowichan) and for the Le’lum’ulh daycare. Of this work Merle says, “I really enjoyed teaching the kids and made sure the kids learned at an early stage. At that age, the children know how to pronounce the words properly and learn very easily.” In addition to this work, Merle has also supported new language learners as a Mentor in the Mentor Apprentice Program as well as through SFU’s Hul’q’umi’num’ linguistics classes and the FPCC funded Language Nest program run by the Hul’q’umi’num’ Language & Culture Society.
(a more complete bio is coming soon)