Dr. Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins

Biography

Ewa is a linguist who has worked for many years with the nxaʔamxčín Language Program of Colville Tribes and the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board. Her work has included supporting and contributing to community language reclamation projects, digital and print dictionary construction, and theorizing and expanding community-based research methodology in language documentation as one step towards decolonial practice in linguistics. 

As collaborator and later co-PI, she has participated in NEȾOLṈEW̱: "One mind, One People" Partnership Development Grant and Partnership Grant projects (led by Drs. Onowa McIvor and Peter Jacobs) whose focus has been Indigenous Language Revitalization. Since 2003 she has been involved in the development and delivery of the Indigenous Language Revitalization undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Victoria. 

Publications

Czaykowska-Higgins, E. (2009) Research Models, Community Engagement, and Linguistic Fieldwork: Reflections on Working within Canadian Indigenous Communities. Language Documentation and Conservation, vol. 3, no. 1 (June 2009): 15-50. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4423

Czaykowska-Higgins, E., M. Holmes & S. Kell. (2014) Technology in documentation: TEI and the Nxaʔamxcín Dictionary. Language Documentation and Conservation, vol. 8, 1-37. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4604

Czaykowska-Higgins, E., S. Burton, A. Marinakis & O. McIvor. (2017) Supporting Indigenous language revitalization through collaborative post-secondary proficiency-building curriculum. Language Documentation and Description 14. Special Issue on Reclaiming Languages (H. de Korne & W. Leonard, eds), 136-159. https://www.lddjournal.org/article/id/1175/

Czaykowska-Higgins, E., D. Daniels, T. Kulchyski, A. Paul, B. Thom, S.M. Twance, & S. Urbanczyk. (2018) Consultation, Relationship and Results in Community-Based Language Research. In Bischoff, S. & C. Jany (eds.) Perspectives on Language and Linguistics: Community-Based Research. Mouton de Gruyter. 66-93.

Czaykowska-Higgins, E. (2018) Reflections on Ethics: Rehumanizing linguistics, building relationships across difference. In McDonnell, B., A. Berez-Kroeker, G. Holton (eds.). Reflections on Language Documentation on the 20-year anniversary of Himmelmann 1998. University of Hawaii Press. 110-121 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24813

Williams, Lorna Wanosts'a7 & E. Czaykowska-Higgins. (2024) Changing notions of Fieldwork. In Dagostino, Carmen, Marianne Mithun & Keren Rice (eds). The Languages and Linguistics of Indigenous North America. Volume 2. 823-842.

nxaʔamxčín Dictionary Team. (2024) nxaʔamxčín nwawlxtnt-- Online Dictionary. University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre. (Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins & M. Dale Kinkade, Compilers; Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins & Sarah Kell, Editors; Martin Holmes, Programmer; Greg Newton, Fonts; Pauline Covington Stensgar, k'saw's Ernest Brooks & Sharon Covington, nxaʔamxčín Language Program language experts. Edition 1.3.

nxaʔamxčín Dictionary Team. (In progress) nxaʔamxčín nwawlxtnt-- nxaʔamxčín Dictionary. Print Dictionary. (Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins & M. Dale Kinkade, Compilers; Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins & Sarah Kell, Editors; Martin Holmes, Programmer; Pauline Covington Stensgar, k'saw's Ernest Brooks & Sharon Covington, nxaʔamxčín Language Program language experts).

Czaykowska-Higgins, E. (In press) Community-Based Linguistic Research. In Sippola, E. & C. Levisen (eds). The Handbook of Postcolonial and Decolonial Linguistics. Routledge.

Czaykowska-Higgins, E. (In press) Collaborative Community-Based Approaches: Towards Decolonial Practice. In Sippola, E. & C. Levisen (eds). The Handbook of Postcolonial and Decolonial Linguistics. Routledge.