APTN launched its new Indigenous Languages Channel on September 1st, to coincide with its 25th anniversary, and just look at the familiar faces in their video! Pat Ningewance and her 50-year vision for Anishinaabemowin (and other languages). Rick Harp and his assembly of Indigenous Language coverage for the 2010 Olympics. Clarence Iron and his historic NHL play-by-play in Cree. Some very dedicated people have been hard at work for years to build the foundation for this moment!
The Programming Schedule for APTNL (view daily here!) sounds exciting, too, moving with the sun from east to west, across Turtle Island, including the arctic, to be available anywhere people have access to cable television. To find your local channel, try scrolling through your regular tv listings on your tv. Here’s the logo to look out for in your local listings:
Listen to Pat’s message as she speaks with APTN’s Cierra Bettens (pictured above), then use your own imagination to help create the path you want to see!
“Five years just goes like that. Fifty years is a better way to look at our time here, maybe even a hundred years,” Ningewance, the author of over a dozen Indigenous language texts said during an interview in her backyard. “What do we want our language to be a hundred years from now?”
I’ve developed a little longterm vision of my own, through hanging out with Pat Ningewance and watching her go. I’ve been wishing for some time that the APTN streaming service would include some of the existing Cree language content in Cree to give Cree classrooms access to “Louis Says” in for kids with Cree language voiceover by longtime Cree Literacy friends Cynthia Cook and Solomon Ratt. Or “Moosemeat and Marmalade” with the always-amazing Art Napoleon. Or Dorothy Thunder‘s Cree translations of scripts for Red Earth Uncovered. Now I’m crossing my fingers, excited to hope that a parallel streaming service might also be in the works. Y
5 Responses
This is so awesome, a long time coming.
where do we access this literary channel
The channel is APTNL and the number depends on your cable tv service provider (so it differs from one area to another).
Since you asked, I just went looking for it on my Bell Satellite listings in Baker Lake, Nunavut. I found APTNL on channel 1198, and I’m thrilled to be watching Norther Air Rescue right now in Cree!
I suggest you try looking scrolling through all your channels on your tv listing, watch out for APTNL, and listen for the sound of Indigenous languages. Good luck!
How wonderful! So important.
Awesome!!!! Miigwech❤️