Why KUOW is broadcasting our Legal ID in different languages

Throughout the day, KUOW is required by our FCC license to broadcast our radio call letters and the locations of our service. You might recognize it as, "You're listening to KUOW FM in Seattle, KUOW Tumwater, KQOW in Bellingham."

Hearing something that resonates with you on a cultural level is a powerful experience, and the Puget Sound region is home to many communities and cultures. KUOW is now broadcasting our Legal ID in several languages that reflect the diversity of our community. Those languages are Spanish, Hindi, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Lushootseed and Lummi. Broadcasting KUOW's Legal ID in languages spoken by communities here – as well as languages spoken by the region's Indigenous peoples – is a consistent, daily way to recognize and celebrate the public KUOW serves.

Gustavo Sagrero voiced the Spanish ID, Smridhi Ahluwalia voiced the Hindi ID, Pin-An Shih voiced the Mandarin ID, and Ruby de Luna voiced the Tagalog ID. They are all current or former KUOW employees.

Lushootseed and Lummi are the languages of the ancestral Indigenous people of the regions our broadcast serves. The place names used in this version of the Legal ID are not the ones you see on a typical map, instead they are the place names used by the Indigenous tribes.

KUOW consulted with Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, Puyallup; Tami Hohn, Puyallup; Nancy Jo Bob, Lummi/Duwamish on the Lushootseed language. We consulted with Cynthia Wilson, Lummi and Nancy Jo Bob, Lummi/Duwamish on the Lummi language.

The Legal ID was voiced by Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, Puyallup, who is a Southern Lushootseed speaker.

Thank you to Kevin Sur, Kānaka Maoli, for inspiration and guidance on this project. For those interested in the music of Indigenous people from around the world – and to hear the KEXP Legal ID said in the Indigenous languages of the regions KEXP serves – listen to the show Sur co-hosts on KEXP, Sounds of Survivance.

Place translations

dᶻidᶻəlalič is the Southern Lushootseed word for Seattle. It means “little crossing over place.”

sqəkʷəɫ is the Southern Lushootseed word for Tumwater. It means “waterfall.”

xʷətqʷəm is the Lummi word for the area of Bellingham, where the old village site is. It means “noisy rushing water.”

“luudəxʷ čələp txʷəl ti KUOW” is Southern Lushootseed and translates as “You are listening to KUOW.”

Lushootseed language

Information on the Lushootseed language was provided by Amber Poitras Hayward, Program Director of the Puyallup Tribal Language Program.

Lushootseed is the language spoken by 13 different tribes living and around the Puget Sound region. Its borders extend to: Skagit Valley and Whidbey Island to the north; the east side of Kitsap Peninsula to the west; the drainage basin of South Puget Sound to the south; and the crest of the Cascade Mountains from Mt. Rainer to Mt. Baker to the north.

The two primary dialects of Lushootseed are Northern Lushootseed and Southern Lushootseed. The boundary between the two dialects is roughly the Snohomish and King County lines north of Seattle. The Puyallup tribe speaks Southern Lushootseed and in that dialect they call Lushootseed - txʷəlšucid.

The term ‘Lushootseed’ was coined by linguist Thom Hess. It is from the name dxʷləšucid. The dxʷ- prefix was removed to make it easier for non-Lushootseed speakers to pronounce. This is the most accepted name by the linguistic community.

Other known terms for Lushootseed are Puget Salish and Puget Sound Salish (said by a few). It references all of the tribes' languages. Each tribe calls their language something different. Some call their language xʷəlšucid, dxʷlušucid and txʷəlšucid. Some call it their tribal language, suq́ʷabšucid - Suquamish language. And some of their elders called it speaking Indian.

Suppression and revitalization

The precontact education system for the First People of this land included learning multiple Tribal languages and cultures. Some would be sent to live with other Tribes for years to learn their ways and language. The First people of this land also had a scribing system to transmit language, traditional narratives and history. This system was expressed through imagery, art, basket designs and carvings.

Upon colonization, Native children in Washington State were taken from their homes, separated from their family unit and sent to live in Indian Boarding Schools in and out of this state. The purpose of the Indian Boarding Schools was to strip the Native children of their language, their culture, their religious beliefs, with the goal of assimilating them into white culture.

Lushootseed loss in the Native community began during the Boarding School assimilation era, where these children were severely abused for speaking their ancestral languages. Fear of speaking spread throughout Indian families, as parents and grandparents were in fear for their lives and the lives of their children. The community and families stopped transmitting Lushootseed to their children for fear of repercussions. Other aspects of Lushootseed language loss included shame in speaking their ancestral language and a desire to fit into white society.

However, Lushootseed never fully left any of the Tribal communities in Washington State. There were brave and resilient people who continued to speak Lushootseed in their homes and in ceremonies. There were people who recorded their Elders speaking Lushootseed. There were linguists and anthropologists who documented and recorded Lushootseed speakers. There were speakers who dedicated their lives to ensuring the Lushootseed language was preserved and carried into future generations.

Today, there are no known first language speakers of the Lushootseed language available, however, there are those who heard first language speakers in their home when they were young – heritage speakers.

The Lushootseed language has hours of first language speaker recordings, language archival documents and a Lushootseed dictionary. Present day, there are Lushootseed language Programs throughout the Puget Sound Tribes, all with the goal of revitalizing the Lushootseed language in their communities.

One component of language revitalization is visibility. Any healthy, growing, thriving language has that language everywhere. That includes visibility – places we see and hear that language. With KUOW’s support of putting Lushootseed on air, we are expanding the Lushootseed language and allowing listeners to hear the ancestral language of this land. It is giving Lushootseed a healthy environment to live and grow in.