Left in the dust

Published by info@haidanation.com on

Chris Taylor runs the Totem to Totem marathon in Haida Gwaii July 19, 2014.

Chris Taylor runs the Totem to Totem marathon in Haida Gwaii July 19, 2014. Photo by Jags Brown

This year Brooklyn, New York resident and Reuters’ journalist Chris Taylor ran 26.2 miles to raise thousands of dollars for the Haida language. His 49 supporters pledged $2,754 to the marathoner’s Indie Go Go campaign, leaving his goal of $1,000 in the dust. Mr Taylor made the run on October 18 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

“I’m running not for myself, but to help save a language,” Mr Taylor declared on his webpage. “The language warriors of Haida Gwaii have been fighting valiantly for decades to preserve their language for future generations.”

The money will be put toward George M Dawson Secondary School’s annual language bursary, production and distribution of a Haida dictionary, and language boot camps at Xaad Kihlga Suu.u.

This is Mr Taylor’s second contribution to language efforts. In November 2013 he raised $2,277 by running the Brooklyn Marathon. These funds helped Haida language workers to publish and distribute free Haida-language children’s books in elementary schools.


0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *