The Inlander11%
After a six-year pause, Rally for Salish aims to reconnect Spokane with the Indigenous languages woven into its history 15%
By Jase Picanso5%
7/22/2026, 7:00:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Framing Effect, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Indoctrination as the most egregious example at 16.9% saturation with 139 hits. Analysis detected 998 faulty-reasoning hits from 822 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 30.9% and a BS Rank of 15% (18,186 of 21,198 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 85.80% of the article peer group.
Nowadays, one of the most common questions Salish School of Spokane founder LaRae Wiley hears while speaking Salish with her grandchildren on the streets of Spokane is surprisingly simple:
“What language are you speaking?”
Strangers have mistaken the language for everything from Russian to Hebrew, Wiley says.
For a city built on Indigenous land and named for one of its Native nations, the question reveals just how disconnected many residents remain from the cultures that have long called this place home.
Spokane’s Indigenous roots have never gone away.
They’ve endured in the land, in generations of the people who reside here and in the language itself.
Now, the Salish School of Spokane is inviting the broader public to experience that living culture firsthand.
The school is bringing back its language revitalization celebration, Rally for Salish, on Friday, July 24, at Riverfront Park’s Clocktower Meadow.
The free event highlights Salish languages and culture through opportunities for community members to connect with Indigenous organizations.
For Wiley, the event is about helping Spokane recognize that Salish communities are not just a part of the region’s past — they are present and preserving their languages for future generations.
“We really want people in Spokane to recognize that Spokane is a really unique place because of all of the Native people here,” she says.
“We’re still here, and we’re just a part of the fabric of this society.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salish School hosted its first rally, which Wiley says enjoyed strong community support.
This year, organizers decided it was time to bring the gathering back with the hope of making it an annual event.
The rally features speakers from several organizations working to preserve Indigenous language and culture, including the Inchelium Language and Culture Association and Spokane Language House.
Spokane Tribe member Margo Hill-Ferguson, a leader in Indigenous education, environmental stewardship and cultural preservation is also presenting.
Students from the Salish School of Spokane are set to perform, including the school’s youth powwow drum group, Colville Peak.
There will also be Native vendors and organizations including Fireweed Baking Co., The Native Project, Həłmxĭłp Indigenous Birth Justice and Elk Soup.
Wiley says bringing people together is an important part of keeping Salish languages alive.
“We really want to celebrate our languages, and we want to bring that awareness that we are still here and that our languages are still here,” she says.
“We’re working really hard to make sure that they continue to be here.”
Language revitalization has become increasingly important throughout the Pacific Northwest, which Wiley says is one of the world’s top three major hotspots for endangered Indigenous language diversity.
Through programs like the Salish School, educators are working to ensure younger and older generations alike have opportunities to learn and speak languages that were nearly lost through generations of forced assimilation and cultural disruption.
But Wiley says one of the biggest challenges is simply helping people understand that Salish languages are still present in Spokane today.
“The No. 1 thing we get asked as the Salish School of Spokane is, ‘Salish?
What’s that?’
A lot of people don’t know that Spokane comes from a Salish word,” she says.
Those questions are part of why local events like Rally for Salish are pivotal for connecting with Spokane residents.
Beyond performances and vendors, Wiley hopes the gathering creates opportunities for people to learn directly from Native communities and build relationships.
“I think creating relationships with folks, that’s really the No. 1 thing,” Wiley says.
The effort to preserve Salish culture extends beyond the rally.
The Salish School continues its open community language immersion work while preparing to begin construction on a new and larger permanent campus later this summer, a project designed to expand opportunities for Indigenous language education.
The new school along the banks of the Spokane River in west Spokane is expected to open sometime in 2027.
Across Spokane, reminders of the region’s Salish roots can be found throughout the city.
Building 24 at Spokane Falls Community College carries the Inland Salish name sn-w’ey’mn, meaning “a place of commerce.”
At Avista Stadium, the word Sp’q’n’i’ is embroidered across the backs of the Spokane Indians baseball jerseys in the Salish tongue.
For Wiley, the goal of Rally for Salish is simple: helping more people understand the cultures and languages that have always been part of this place.
“The more people know that there’s Salish languages here and know that there are Native culture programs, native language programs,” she says, “I think that that’ll be the goal, just to reach out to people, give them some additional education and sharing with them about what we’re doing.”
Rally for Salish • Friday, July 24 from 11:30-1:30 pm • Free • All ages • Riverfront Park Clocktower Meadow •
507 N.
Howard St. • salishschoolofspokane.org • facebook.com/SalishSchoolofSpokane
Speakers
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100%flagged-word coverageSalish School of Spokane
17 attributed words4.7% of attributed speech46% writer coverage
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