Our language, place, history, and stories
This is our community site, where we share our language, place names, history, and stories from along the Thompson River.
Four bends, one river
Our language, places, history, and stories are not separate shelves — they are four ways into the same place, our home along the Thompson River.
Word of the river
qʷuʔwater
Nłeʔkepmxcín is our language — the words, meanings, and sounds of this place, shared here for everyone.
Enter our language
The land holds the names
Our place names along the Thompson River and up into the grasslands and hills, on a map you can explore.
Open our map
Our history, still being gathered
From time immemorial to today — our records, testimony, and memory, shared only as our families and Society are ready.
Follow our history
Our own voices
Teaching, place, and continuity — stories carried by our Elders, knowledge keepers, and families, each shared with consent.
Read our storiesWe want to teach the world who Pukaist is
Our short film — families still living from the land along the Thompson River: the seasonal rounds, roping and ranching, fishing and hunting, and our children learning where they come from. “As soon as I step on the land, my heart is full.”
A word can lead to a place
A word can lead to a place. A place can lead to a story. A story can lead back into history. Here is one path through Pukaist.
Made by our community
We maintain this site — the People of Pukaist Society in Ashcroft, BC — to support our language, history, and cultural continuity, and to share carefully.
These pages open up our language, places, history, and stories — while the knowledge we hold close stays with us.
Why we built this
To renew our cultural practices, traditions, and language, and to support our people, from youth to Elders.
Language, place, history, and story belong together. This is one way we share that work with you.
What we share here
- Our language, place names, history, and stories that we’re ready to share
- Pages that connect you to the source material and context behind them
- Clear limits where some knowledge stays with us
Have a question or a correction?
If you have a question, a correction, or something to add, visit our community page or reach out to us.
More about our community →