Singer, songwriter Saltwater Hank (Jeremy Pahl) is releasing a Sm'álgyax only album titled “Gal’uunx wil lu Holtga” this weekend.

The goal with the album is to inspire Ts’msyen people and others to learn understand and speak their own language. Pahl says there there currently no first generation Sm'álgyax speakers left under the age of 60.

Pahl is from Kxeen (Prince Rupert) and, ancestrally, has ties to Txalgiiw (Hartly Bay) and Maxlaxaala (Metlakatla), something that comes through in his writing in his songs.

Pahl also works in the archives of the Ts’msyen Nation: he has fully immersed himself in the traditional language by studying and teaching the language to others.

A song titled “Nii Wila waalt” from the album has already been released on all streaming platforms, with the remainder of the album to be released on Canada Day.

Listen to the CFNR interview with Jeremy Pahl below: