Mĩ & We

Stories & Songs

Kala villagers live in a mainly subsistence economy. Most food grows in riverside gardens, and most protein comes from fishing. Forests provide wild foods and materials for homes and outrigger canoes. Thus, Kala is rich with words describing the environment, including words describing practices and beliefs related to the environment.

Given Kala speakers’ coastal adaption and deep historical, economic, and cultural attachment to the rivers and creeks that flow through their territories, a study of the aquatic environment provides an ideal basis on which to build an understanding of the language and the relationship between language and culture.