Sqelixʷ ‘Salish’ Storytelling

Program Description

Sqelixʷ ‘Salish’ Storytelling incorporates Salish Language, Plains Indian Sign Language, and storytelling to discuss Salish cultural, identity and values. This presentation teaches Indigenous understandings about native storytelling, and connection with the land. Aspen and Cameron Decker focus on teaching about Salish place names/Montana geography, art, and the Salish seasonal round. Coyote stories are told throughout the winter months. In the warmer months, the presentation focuses on Salish anthology.

During the course of Sqelixʷ ‘Salish’ Storytelling , Aspen and Cameron Decker speak about storytelling, the life lessons that they teach, and Indigenous geographical knowledge of Montana and Salish aboriginal territory. This presentation also introduces the culture behind oral traditions and Salish seasonal protocol. Together both speakers incorporate and speak Salish Language and Plains Sign Language associated with the stories with students, during their program.

Presenter Bio

Aspen Decker Bio

Aspen Decker is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (t̓at̓ʔayáqn, Ql̓ispè, & Ksanka) and a speaker of her tribal language, Nsélišcn ‘Salish language’. She graduated with a master’s degree in linguistics from the University of Montana in 2021.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in Tribal Historic Preservation from Salish Kootenai College in 2018. She has a Montana Class 7 Native American Language and Culture Educator License and has taught Salish for 10 years. Her passion for Salish language began as a child, learning from her elders, primarily, Patlik Pierre. Who taught her about the importance of perpetuating Salish language and culture. Raising her children in the language as first language Salish speakers has been one of the ways that she honors their teachings.
Aspen owns Xʷlxʷilt ‘Alive and Well’ a company dedicated to supporting Aspen’s language revitalization and cultural preservation through education, art, and consulting. The company is committed to developing and providing genuine Indigenous education, contributing to the promotion of diversity and Native voice within Western systems.

Artist Statement:
Ancestral Indigenous knowledge and language are at the heart of my work. As a Salish speaker and storyteller, I create ledger art on antique maps that reflect Sqelixʷ ‘Indigenous’ ways of knowing and emphasize cultural preservation, language revitalization, storytelling, and Plains Indian Sign Language.

Cameron Decker Bio

Cameron Decker is Diné (Navajo) and a descendant of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. He is an artist and educator working in printmaking, painting, drawing, digital art, and public arts. Cameron holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of New Mexico and an M.A. in Fine Arts through the Creative Pulse program at the University of Montana. He served as faculty and Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Salish Kootenai College and was formerly the Educator and Outreach Coordinator at the Missoula Art Museum. He is now the manager for Xʷlxʷilt ‘Alive and Well’. Cameron creates his own natural pigments and charcoals for painting and drawing. His public artworks are installed throughout schools and parks on the Flathead Reservation.

Artist Statement:
My art practice is guided by intuition, memory, and connection to place. I work with natural materials like pigments made from rocks I gather and handmade willow charcoal elements. Each carries meaning, memory, and deep time of geological histories compressed into color. Drawing with these materials grounds me in a long continuum, where I feel both connected and fleeting. Creation comes in flurries, often sparked by reflection, and driven by a desire to learn and surprise myself. Whether working in painting, drawing, printmaking, or public art, I hope to honor those who shaped me and offer something lasting.