Dr. chuutsqa L. Rorick
Assistant Professor
Department of Indigenous Education
- Contact:
- Office: MAC A257 chuutsqa@uvic.ca 250-721-7826
- Area(s) of expertise:
- Indigenous language revitalization, reclamation, and maintenance, Knowledge co-creation, Indigenous methodologies, Indigenous data sovereignty, Indigenous language learning technologies, Land-based learning, Indigenous research, Indigenous archiving
Biography
Dr. chuutsqa L. Rorick is a Hesquiaht First Nations researcher, educator, and language advocate whose work centers Indigenous-led language revitalization. She is a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Indigenous Language Revitalization, Reclamation, and Maintenance. Her research builds on a decade and a half of collaboration with fluent Hesquiaht Elders to develop land-based language programs, immersive learning environments, and accessible digital resources for Nuu-chah-nulth communities.
As a founding member of the Hesquiaht Language Program, she supports intergenerational knowledge transmission and language teacher development through community-driven initiatives. Her research has focused on Hesquiaht-centered creation of language resources, including a 100-hour land-based immersion camp.
Dr. Rorick’s current research, supported by the CRC program, advances Indigenous language revitalization through land-based mentorship, ethical digital innovation, and First Nation–governed archives. Rooted in Hesquiaht cultural principles and Indigenous data sovereignty, her work contributes scalable, community-led strategies for language resurgence and the continuity of ancestral knowledge systems.
Publications
Rorick, c.L. (2024). Making a yuuł (canoe run). The Polyglot Magazine, 14(1).
Rorick, c.L. (2023) c̓atswiiʔats łim̓aqsti ʔaaḥʔasaquu c̓aʔak: It Flows Through My Inner Conscience Like a River: Teaching at the Confluence of Hesquiaht Language Flow and Second Language Acquisition. Linguapax Review: Heritage Languages and the Well-Being of Speakers Llengües d’herència i benestar dels parlants, 37-44.
Rorick, c.L. (2023). Hesquiaht Language on Hesquiaht Land Camp. Hesquiaht Language Program.
Rorick, c.L. (2018) wałyaʕasukʔi naatnaniqsakqin: At the Home of our Ancestors: Hesquiaht Second Language Immersion on Hesquiaht Land. In L.T. Smith, E. Tuck & W. Yang (Eds.), Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education, Routledge.
Rosborough, T., Rorick, c.L., & Urbanczyk, S. (2017). Beautiful Words: Enriching and Indigenizing Kwak’wala Revitalization through Understandings of Linguistic Structure. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(4), 425-437.
Rosborough, T., Rorick, c.L. (2017). Following in the Footsteps of the Wolf: Connecting Scholarly Minds to Ancestors in Indigenous Language Revitalization. In AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.
Rorick, c.L., Nookemis, H., Lucas, J., Lucas, H. (2019). Grammar of the Hesquiaht Part 1. Hot Springs Cove, Canada, Hesquiaht Language Program.
Paul, L., Galligos, A. & Rorick, L. (2013). M-Z English-Hesquiaht Dictionary. Hot Springs Cove, Canada, Hesquiaht Language Program.
Paul, L., Galligos, A. & Rorick, L. (2012). A-L English-Hesquiaht Dictionary. Hot Springs Cove, Canada, Hesquiaht Language Program.
Hesquiaht Language Program (n.d.) Hesquiaht FirstVoices Portal [Multimedia].