How to wash your hands in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓

April 7, 2020

One of the messages we’ve been hearing a lot lately, during this health crisis, is to wash our hands; wash them often. There have been posters explaining how, and little tricks we’ve been learning to ensure we wash for twenty seconds.

One of those tricks is to sing happy birthday, twice.

In an effort to reach out to her students, and to continue her lessons in teaching the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language, Language Teacher from Kwantlen First Nations, Fern Gabriel recorded a lesson in washing hands, but in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓.

She sings happy birthday in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, twice, while displaying proper hand-washing.

“I was inspired by a young lady from Musqueam, Vanessa Campbell, who did a Vimeo on washing hands,” says Fern. “Musqueam is where I learned my language. I saw her video circulating Facebook and I asked her if I could “copy” her video for my students. As a hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ teacher who teaches using a method called Total Physical Response (delivering action commands in a second language to teach understanding), I was stressing out about how I should be teaching my classes moving forward. So, one of my many sleepless nights I created a video on my iPhone.”

In her second video, she also displays hand washing while counting up to twenty in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓.

At the beginning she says, t̓ᶿχʷecsəm čxʷ, a sentence meaning “wash your hands”. “t̕ᶿə́χʷ means to get washed,” says Fern. “-cəs is hand  čxʷ is you.  So, this is a demand, linguistically. It literally means ‘wash hands you’, or ‘you wash your hands’.”

“It’s our social responsibility,” says Fern, “to do our due diligence in flattening the curve by being mindful of staying healthy.”

So, next time you wash your hands, sing yourself the happy birthday song twice, or simply count to twenty, but do it in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓.