Lovely story about Carolyn Kiskotagan, and about Cree language reclamation. My favourite quotes:
“Our spirit is made up of everything our ancestors did,” Kiskotagan said. “The language is a part of the spirit, so when all those things were torn away, the spirit is not whole.”
“The way we speak our language, the way we practise respecting the land, and all those teachings that we have, the more that we learn about those things, the more whole our spirit becomes,” she said. “Even though it is a second language, better late than never.”
“Some people will say they don’t want to try to speak Cree because they think they sound funny, because people laugh at them,” she said. “I would say, ‘Continue trying, continue speaking — it doesn’t matter if they think you sound funny. The only way you’re going to learn is if you keep on speaking and listening to people who speak Cree.’
Read the story via the Edmonton Star (9 December 2018, Hamdi Issawi):
Download the complete story by Hamdi Issawi (9 December 2018) here: StatCan report finds more people are learning Indigenous languages _ The Star
2 Responses
I agree it is important to preserve our language and our culture. I need to learn Cree for my ancestors.
Yes it’s never to late to learn I’m 48yrs old and I went back to school at Blue Quills University and I will be receiving my BA in the Cree Language which took me three years of studies I’m proud of my fellow classmates from 15 of us 7 will graduate in June. A big accomplishment for all us nehiyawak ?