A progressive Canadian university has been panned online after celebrating Indigenous awards with a name that many say is impossible to decipher.
The University of Victoria in British Columbia was mocked after announcing the latest winners of the ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ | SIÁMĆEȽ awards.
The honors are part of the school’s awards for distinguished alumni, recognizing contributions ‘which have improved outcomes for Indigenous people,’ according to the university.
The university has said that ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ is translated as ‘Gift for the successful student, alum,’ in the Lekwungen language, while SIÁMĆEȽ means ‘highly respected alum and continuing to do respected work’ in the Saanich language.
The sequence is pronounced ‘thlee-thul ah kwus tl-kwuh-nukh Skoo-koo-ul-stung-uthl’.
However, online commenters quickly pointed out the award’s unusual name and spelling.
‘This is stupid,’ one user on X posted. ‘No one can read this, and you know no one can read this. And everyone knows that you know no one can read this.’
Another commenter called the awards ‘absolutely ridiculous’ and accused the university of mocking its students and alumni.
‘It’s a radical leftwing woke institution,’ a third user said.
The University of Victoria in in British Columbia has named its distinguished alumni honors the ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ SIÁMĆEȽ awards
‘I like to use my imagination,’ another user on X said about the awards.
Both languages are North Straits Salish dialects native to British Columbia. They might also be used in Washington state in the US.
However, they are rarely spoken today, even among Canadians of indigenous backgrounds.
One of the last fluent speakers of the Lekwungen language, Elder Dr Elmer George of the Songhees Nation, died in November at 90 years old.
There were only seven fluent speakers of the Saanich language alive as of 2022, according to Seaside Magazine.
‘Cree or Inuktitut on signs makes sense, because it’s usually done in areas where literacy of the language is equal or greater than English,’ another user said.
‘But in this case, UVic is using a script understood almost exclusively by linguists,’ he added. ‘The number of Indigenous people who can read it is close to the single digits.’
Another online commenter joined in with a similar critique of the University of Victoria.
‘I guess they got bored of creating incomprehensible word salad jargon in English to make themselves feel smarter than everybody else,’ the user said.
The University of Victoria’s president, Dr. Robina Thomas, has an indigenous background and has pushed the school to support indigenous students and programs
The university specifically points out that the awards are ‘held on Lək̓ʷəŋən territory, a land with ongoing significance to both the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples.’
‘Anyone presenting a degree from that place should be laughed out of the interview,’ one X user said. ‘Such people are far too dangerous to hire.’
Another added: ‘I truly hope this virtue signaling BS affects your alumni fundraising . WTF?’
Others suggested that while the university may have good intentions in mind, its message would not get through to people.
‘Consequence of this kind of stuff: annoyance/resentment among regular folk, and no one using those words they can’t read,’ they said.
The University of Victoria’s alumni association announced that the awards would be renamed last April.
The university said the new names came from the Lekwungen language, also spelled Lək̓ʷəŋən, and the Saanich language, also spelled SENĆOŦEN.
The ɬíɬəl ʔa kʷs ƛ̓kʷəxnəq Skʷukʷəlstəŋəƛ̓ award is translated from the Lekwungen language as ‘Gift for the successful student, alum,’ the university said
‘The incredible alumni embody the strength, knowledge and leadership rooted in community,’ the university said about this year’s recipients.
‘Through their work across disciplines and territories, they continue to create meaningful change and reflect the distinct value of Indigenous education and experience at UVic,’ they added.
The renaming of the alumni awards was just one of the progressive measures taken in recent years by the Canadian university.
Dr Robina Thomas, the University of Victoria’s president, has an indigenous background and has pushed to support indigenous students and programs at the school.
For instance, the institution has ‘acknowledge[d] with respect the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands.’
In 2023, the university named two new student housing buildings to reflect local indigenous culture.
One of the buildings was named Čeqʷəŋín ʔéʔləŋ, while the other was called Sŋéqə ʔéʔləŋ.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the University of Victoria for comment.
