1
00:00:06,494 --> 00:00:07,685
♪[Music]♪
2
00:00:44,253 --> 00:00:46,560
I'm fascinated with the way
language is central
3
00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,070
to our world view as indigenous people.
4
00:00:50,178 --> 00:00:55,087
I'm a Néhiyaw artist and curator living on
Lekwungen territory in Victoria, BC.
5
00:00:56,272 --> 00:00:59,291
My personal research centers
around language revitalization
6
00:00:59,291 --> 00:01:02,207
and how it connects us
to our cultures and lands.
7
00:01:03,564 --> 00:01:07,303
Over the past few years, I've been
on a journey to learn the Cree language.
8
00:01:08,227 --> 00:01:11,116
It's been a challenging and
incredibly rewarding experience.
9
00:01:12,465 --> 00:01:15,468
Now I want to travel to Alberta,
where my ancestors are from,
10
00:01:15,468 --> 00:01:17,838
to discover the ways that
different communities
11
00:01:17,838 --> 00:01:19,993
are revitalizing their languages.
12
00:01:25,757 --> 00:01:29,347
My mother and I both grew up
not knowing anything about our Cree family
13
00:01:29,347 --> 00:01:32,669
because she was adopted out at birth
as part of the '60s scoop.
14
00:01:34,008 --> 00:01:36,117
Twelve years ago, we met our Cree family,
15
00:01:36,212 --> 00:01:38,979
and since then I have been in a process
of connecting with the community
16
00:01:38,979 --> 00:01:40,588
in Wabasca, Alberta,
17
00:01:40,734 --> 00:01:43,617
the place where my kohkom,
my grandmother Florence, was born.
18
00:01:47,391 --> 00:01:51,257
I recently met Nora Yellowknee,
an administrator at the local school,
19
00:01:51,257 --> 00:01:53,538
Oski Pasikoniwew Kamik.
20
00:01:55,198 --> 00:01:57,769
After realizing that
we were second cousins,
21
00:01:57,769 --> 00:02:00,295
she offered to help me learn
about my family tree.
22
00:02:01,254 --> 00:02:03,341
[Nora] You have your grandmother, --
23
00:02:04,390 --> 00:02:05,352
Florence.
24
00:02:09,707 --> 00:02:11,426
And her mother is Isabelle.
25
00:02:11,731 --> 00:02:14,791
And then, I'm here.
26
00:02:17,288 --> 00:02:20,331
And your grandmother. And your mom?
27
00:02:21,169 --> 00:02:22,267
Fancine.
28
00:02:22,806 --> 00:02:25,095
[Nora] They are first cousins
or second cousins.
29
00:02:25,562 --> 00:02:28,065
- [Eli] Okay.
- [Nora] And you're down here.
30
00:02:28,065 --> 00:02:29,563
[Eli] I'm down there?
31
00:02:30,497 --> 00:02:32,784
[Eli] Yeah, this is more than, --
32
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,171
a lot more than I knew
before I met you, before I came up.
33
00:02:38,151 --> 00:02:40,164
[Nora] Yeah, that's Isabelle.
34
00:02:42,233 --> 00:02:44,044
Nohkom Isabelle.
35
00:02:47,499 --> 00:02:49,394
This means a lot to me to see this, --
36
00:02:49,565 --> 00:02:50,434
again, --
37
00:02:51,930 --> 00:02:55,760
because the more that I see it
the more that I hear about this
38
00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:57,177
and talk about it.
39
00:02:58,088 --> 00:02:59,800
It's going to stick and --
40
00:03:00,010 --> 00:03:05,699
I now understand more and
know more through that process
41
00:03:09,447 --> 00:03:12,327
[Nora] My dream for the language here,
42
00:03:12,565 --> 00:03:16,100
starting with the school, is to have
our people who speak the language,
43
00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:17,689
speak it every day,
44
00:03:18,471 --> 00:03:20,078
because we are not getting that.
45
00:03:20,848 --> 00:03:24,828
There are many Cree speakers working here,
but they are not speaking it.
46
00:03:26,012 --> 00:03:28,767
For people, the young families now,
47
00:03:28,767 --> 00:03:31,606
the young mothers
speak Cree to their children.
48
00:03:33,217 --> 00:03:36,601
And all the rest of it will follow.
49
00:03:38,190 --> 00:03:41,194
Seeing a photo of my kohkom Florence
as a young woman
50
00:03:41,194 --> 00:03:43,817
created a sense of
healing and re-connection
51
00:03:43,874 --> 00:03:46,810
after feeling disconnected
for most of my life.
52
00:03:47,429 --> 00:03:50,082
Knowing more about
my family's history has allowed me
53
00:03:50,082 --> 00:03:52,454
to connect deeper with my ancestors.
54
00:03:52,856 --> 00:03:56,303
There is so much more to discover
but, like learning the language,
55
00:03:56,511 --> 00:03:57,915
this will take time.
56
00:04:02,881 --> 00:04:05,241
The Kapaskwatinak
Cultural Education Center
57
00:04:05,276 --> 00:04:07,149
is a place for the Children of Wabaska
58
00:04:07,174 --> 00:04:09,664
to connect to the land and their culture.
59
00:04:10,142 --> 00:04:11,982
Knowledge Keeper Lorraine Cardinal
60
00:04:12,027 --> 00:04:14,587
helps guide the children
through land-based education
61
00:04:14,645 --> 00:04:17,234
including coming-of-age ceremonies.
62
00:04:17,381 --> 00:04:19,578
I'm excited to learn about these teachings
63
00:04:19,578 --> 00:04:22,394
since I didn't have the opportunities
to experience them,
64
00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:25,246
growing up disconnected
from community and family.
65
00:04:26,883 --> 00:04:29,506
[Lorraine Cardinal] The reason that --
66
00:04:30,753 --> 00:04:33,705
I do these things, like the coming-of-age,
67
00:04:33,705 --> 00:04:39,144
because it's also my responsibility
as a Néhiyaw school
68
00:04:39,144 --> 00:04:43,460
to protect the children,
69
00:04:43,810 --> 00:04:45,038
creator's children.
70
00:04:45,038 --> 00:04:48,580
And when I'm protecting
creator's children, --
71
00:04:49,334 --> 00:04:54,609
we need to teach them those protocols,
we need to teach those values.
72
00:04:54,807 --> 00:04:59,955
They need to know them so that they don't
end up getting hurt in the future.
73
00:05:00,242 --> 00:05:05,951
And that shame of our language,
and who we are, and our ceremonial ways;
74
00:05:05,951 --> 00:05:12,427
losing those has caused
big destruction in our communities.
75
00:05:12,689 --> 00:05:15,669
Because our children,
as they're growing up,
76
00:05:15,669 --> 00:05:20,420
they know who they are, they came
with the gift of knowing who they are.
77
00:05:20,190 --> 00:05:25,977
I have a responsibility to pass
those teachings on to other children too,
78
00:05:26,124 --> 00:05:29,740
because they will experiment,
they will explore,
79
00:05:29,950 --> 00:05:33,070
and we want to prevent them
80
00:05:33,121 --> 00:05:38,185
from hurting each other
or hurting themselves, right?
81
00:05:38,287 --> 00:05:40,067
[Drumming and chanting]
82
00:05:54,562 --> 00:06:00,972
[Lorraine Cardinal] They call that
oskinîkiskwew ēkwa oskinîkîwiw,
83
00:06:01,228 --> 00:06:05,344
young manhood and young womanhood.
84
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,491
I want to thank you and honour you
for coming into this world.
85
00:06:12,733 --> 00:06:15,630
You are a blessing to us.
86
00:06:15,223 --> 00:06:20,434
We are so very honored to have you
as part of us, nêhiyaw-iskwêw.
87
00:06:21,239 --> 00:06:25,285
Always remember to hold your head up,
don't be ashamed and --
88
00:06:25,705 --> 00:06:29,800
always accept yourself for who you are,
89
00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,440
and honour those gifts
you brought with you, --
90
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,984
and welcome into womanhood.
91
00:06:34,984 --> 00:06:36,122
Welcome.
92
00:06:37,441 --> 00:06:40,621
It truly is a blessing
and an honour to have you
93
00:06:40,654 --> 00:06:44,024
as a young nêhiyaw-iskwêw,
94
00:06:44,056 --> 00:06:46,222
A young nêhiyaw woman.
95
00:06:46,906 --> 00:06:47,868
Welcome.
96
00:06:48,672 --> 00:06:50,376
[Children talking]
97
00:06:50,625 --> 00:06:53,313
[Lorraine Cardinal] Somehow, someway --
98
00:06:55,950 --> 00:06:59,668
fear got instilled in us
as indigenous people.
99
00:07:00,343 --> 00:07:04,398
Shame got instilled in us
as indigenous people.
100
00:07:04,398 --> 00:07:08,651
Our children, what they
experienced here today
101
00:07:08,651 --> 00:07:11,156
taught them how sacred they are,
102
00:07:11,321 --> 00:07:13,610
how important they are,
103
00:07:13,610 --> 00:07:16,800
how beautiful they are,
104
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:21,282
and that they're not just
beautiful in physical form.
105
00:07:21,340 --> 00:07:25,370
that they're beautiful
in spiritual form too.
106
00:07:25,489 --> 00:07:27,919
All we need to do is believe in them,
107
00:07:27,933 --> 00:07:31,508
to love them, and to tell them
they're important.
108
00:07:31,508 --> 00:07:34,413
They'll start feeling good
about themselves.
109
00:07:34,415 --> 00:07:38,948
I'm proud of them.
Their spirit is still alive and well.
110
00:07:40,085 --> 00:07:44,795
What do you see being the way forward
111
00:07:44,795 --> 00:07:48,589
so that these young ones
in the community --
112
00:07:50,349 --> 00:07:52,661
can not only understand the language
113
00:07:52,748 --> 00:07:55,893
and its relationship to their spirit,
114
00:07:56,066 --> 00:07:58,724
and their relationship to the land
115
00:07:58,724 --> 00:08:01,076
and each other and themselves,
116
00:08:02,414 --> 00:08:03,726
but be speaking it?
117
00:08:04,357 --> 00:08:05,949
How do you feel about --
118
00:08:06,137 --> 00:08:10,483
the future of the language
in these next generations to come?
119
00:08:10,933 --> 00:08:14,937
We have to believe in ourselves
to be able to do it, --
120
00:08:16,087 --> 00:08:22,637
and we need to set our goal.
121
00:08:23,311 --> 00:08:28,632
And if it's revitalizing the language,
then let's do that.
122
00:08:29,192 --> 00:08:31,094
How did we learn Cree?
123
00:08:32,847 --> 00:08:35,887
We learnt it sitting around
with the old people,
124
00:08:35,887 --> 00:08:37,747
visiting each other and --
125
00:08:38,065 --> 00:08:41,248
our parents speaking to us, you know?
126
00:08:42,700 --> 00:08:45,557
So we can get it back.
127
00:08:45,768 --> 00:08:48,945
We just need to do it.
128
00:09:02,847 --> 00:09:08,372
John Bigstone is a Wabasca elder who carries
vast spiritual and ceremonial knowledge.
129
00:09:09,425 --> 00:09:12,461
He invited me to the land where
he holds sweat lodge ceremonies
130
00:09:12,461 --> 00:09:15,570
to share teachings about the spirit
within our languages.
131
00:09:15,815 --> 00:09:17,275
[Music]
132
00:09:29,261 --> 00:09:30,598
[Inhales deeply]
133
00:09:34,620 --> 00:09:38,590
It clears your mind when
you breathe in this smudge.
134
00:09:43,592 --> 00:09:46,424
English language is inadequate --
135
00:09:47,489 --> 00:09:49,451
if you're going to describe spirit.
136
00:09:50,053 --> 00:09:51,345
Anything of spirit.
137
00:09:51,614 --> 00:09:52,906
It's inadequate.
138
00:09:55,499 --> 00:10:00,898
They named it according to their
connection to that plant
139
00:10:01,164 --> 00:10:03,232
because they spoke to the plant
140
00:10:03,730 --> 00:10:05,258
They had a connection.
141
00:10:05,619 --> 00:10:07,492
They had a connection to all of life.
142
00:10:07,492 --> 00:10:09,393
They understood their environment.
143
00:10:09,547 --> 00:10:11,868
They understood that
everything was alive, --
144
00:10:12,406 --> 00:10:15,614
and your spirit has
a connection with that spirit
145
00:10:15,877 --> 00:10:19,481
of mother earth and everything
that grows on her body.
146
00:10:22,394 --> 00:10:26,906
Prior to contact, everything was
described in a more spiritual way.
147
00:10:27,276 --> 00:10:30,906
Mîtos you know,
has a spiritual meaning.
148
00:10:31,612 --> 00:10:36,101
Sihta as in spiritual meaning.
That's the poplar and the spruce.
149
00:10:37,682 --> 00:10:40,728
I stutter coming back to the language
150
00:10:40,728 --> 00:10:43,775
where our families have
had these interruptions --
151
00:10:44,562 --> 00:10:47,010
of residential school, the 60s' scoop.
152
00:10:47,657 --> 00:10:49,928
I'm curious what your thoughts are --
153
00:10:50,744 --> 00:10:54,792
about those of us with this blood in us,
154
00:10:54,883 --> 00:10:58,845
and whose ancestors
have spoken the language,
155
00:10:59,073 --> 00:11:04,733
and whether you think that
we have it inside of us
156
00:11:04,826 --> 00:11:06,345
just waiting to come out, --
157
00:11:07,293 --> 00:11:11,448
this bone memory or
blood memory of the language.
158
00:11:12,060 --> 00:11:14,072
Yeah, it's in your DNA.
159
00:11:15,782 --> 00:11:18,096
It's programmed in there already.
160
00:11:18,096 --> 00:11:20,674
You just have to wake up that programming.
161
00:11:22,825 --> 00:11:24,630
That's why you're here, see?
162
00:11:24,630 --> 00:11:26,924
It's that programming,
and your spirit guide.
163
00:11:26,924 --> 00:11:30,143
You've got to remember,
there's a spiritual aspect to this.
164
00:11:31,382 --> 00:11:33,642
You're never alone.
You never walk alone.
165
00:11:33,648 --> 00:11:35,073
Your ancestors,
166
00:11:35,229 --> 00:11:37,270
your Cree ancestors, walk with you.
167
00:11:37,875 --> 00:11:41,269
They're assigned to you
to guide you where you need to be.
168
00:11:41,807 --> 00:11:44,921
That's the beauty of
this understanding of spirit.
169
00:11:46,076 --> 00:11:48,036
It happens in spirit.
170
00:11:48,554 --> 00:11:52,842
We are the result of spirit in action.
171
00:11:52,842 --> 00:11:54,141
We become material.
172
00:11:54,331 --> 00:11:56,048
That's a deeper teaching.
173
00:11:57,140 --> 00:12:02,455
But the reality is, every one of us
have spirit guides around us.
174
00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:10,700
I was on kind of a lost path
before I found my way to my first lodge.
175
00:12:13,454 --> 00:12:15,678
And it's interesting to think of these --
176
00:12:16,402 --> 00:12:21,701
European modalities or
academic ways of describing
177
00:12:21,817 --> 00:12:23,678
how things are working.
178
00:12:24,378 --> 00:12:28,153
And the way that I explain it to people is
179
00:12:28,153 --> 00:12:31,741
I don't know how it's working,
I just know it is working for me.
180
00:12:33,239 --> 00:12:35,931
And it's not something I'm trying
to figure out up here,
181
00:12:36,136 --> 00:12:38,941
I just know it's working down here.
182
00:12:42,232 --> 00:12:46,503
And I think it has connected
my heart and my spirit
183
00:12:46,550 --> 00:12:50,288
in ways that weren't happening before.
184
00:12:51,195 --> 00:12:53,784
When I say a prayer
in the social gathering,
185
00:12:53,784 --> 00:12:55,136
I say it in Cree
186
00:12:55,186 --> 00:13:00,468
because it's an insult to my ancestors
if I pray in English.
187
00:13:02,109 --> 00:13:05,051
It's the very thing
that oppressed me as a child.
188
00:13:05,660 --> 00:13:06,869
I can't do that.
189
00:13:06,869 --> 00:13:11,569
I have to speak and pray in Cree.
190
00:13:12,075 --> 00:13:16,163
That's what I do and
I explain, you know, why.
191
00:13:16,988 --> 00:13:19,112
Because I'm not praying to the people.
192
00:13:19,274 --> 00:13:22,902
I'm praying to the spirits
that are guiding me.
193
00:13:23,354 --> 00:13:26,382
They don't have to understand
what I'm saying.
194
00:13:26,826 --> 00:13:31,290
Because as long as a spirit hears,
the spirit will come.
195
00:13:32,378 --> 00:13:35,361
And they understand my language,
the Cree language.
196
00:13:35,676 --> 00:13:37,903
Once I identify myself, they say,
197
00:13:37,903 --> 00:13:41,718
"Huh, our grandson is praying.
Let's go support him."
198
00:13:42,732 --> 00:13:44,427
That's the beauty of our language.
199
00:13:48,232 --> 00:13:50,705
What happened to our language --
200
00:13:52,158 --> 00:13:54,547
came from the time of
the residence in school,
201
00:13:54,547 --> 00:13:56,993
the first time it was introduced, --
202
00:13:59,294 --> 00:14:03,131
not only the Cree
but the many tribes themselves.
203
00:14:04,878 --> 00:14:07,431
When they took away the children, --
204
00:14:09,843 --> 00:14:12,573
they took the children away
from the land, --
205
00:14:14,605 --> 00:14:17,636
the language, their ancestors,
206
00:14:17,705 --> 00:14:19,573
their grandfathers, their grandmothers,
207
00:14:19,573 --> 00:14:23,803
their teachers, their parents,
their aunts and uncles.
208
00:14:25,473 --> 00:14:28,025
That's when the separation happened.
209
00:14:28,677 --> 00:14:30,577
They broke that connection.
210
00:14:30,659 --> 00:14:33,746
So when he took us away, --
211
00:14:35,171 --> 00:14:38,192
they severed that connection
to all of those things.
212
00:14:38,473 --> 00:14:42,496
We were taught a foreign way of thinking.
213
00:14:42,748 --> 00:14:44,993
I was programmed as a child.
214
00:14:44,993 --> 00:14:49,847
Now, I have to deprogram myself,
sometimes referred to as decolonization,
215
00:14:50,252 --> 00:14:53,049
as they gave us that colonized mentality.
216
00:14:53,290 --> 00:14:59,757
And it just did not fit with our paradigm,
how we saw our place in creation.
217
00:15:01,302 --> 00:15:03,714
At some point, somebody's got to wake up.
218
00:15:04,415 --> 00:15:07,475
One day, you've got to say,
"Hey, there's something wrong here."
219
00:15:07,562 --> 00:15:08,853
This is the time.
220
00:15:09,712 --> 00:15:10,915
That's why we're here.
221
00:15:11,391 --> 00:15:12,839
To wake the people up.
222
00:15:13,710 --> 00:15:15,244
To wake ourselves up.
223
00:15:17,487 --> 00:15:20,342
Still be the guiding light, you know.
224
00:15:20,342 --> 00:15:22,236
There is a different way.
225
00:15:22,236 --> 00:15:24,303
So, it's about connection.
226
00:15:24,445 --> 00:15:26,156
That's what was severed --
227
00:15:27,218 --> 00:15:29,422
in the time of the residential school.
228
00:15:30,211 --> 00:15:34,089
We lost connection to our spirit.
229
00:15:34,307 --> 00:15:39,400
It replaced the creator
outside of us instead of in here.
230
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,843
We're trying to mend that rift.
231
00:15:45,012 --> 00:15:46,324
That's what you're doing.
232
00:15:46,324 --> 00:15:48,262
That rift that was caught;
233
00:15:48,633 --> 00:15:53,486
you are the stitch that is bringing
those two worldviews --
234
00:15:55,143 --> 00:16:00,096
but to where they start
respecting our way,
235
00:16:00,834 --> 00:16:02,116
the Cree way.
236
00:16:03,404 --> 00:16:06,340
When you have love, when you feel love --
237
00:16:07,821 --> 00:16:12,328
and somebody tells you something
that your spirit is looking to hear
238
00:16:12,489 --> 00:16:14,242
like, "Welcome home."
239
00:16:14,242 --> 00:16:15,830
Where do you feel it?
240
00:16:16,399 --> 00:16:19,227
Right here. You're connecting.
241
00:16:19,505 --> 00:16:21,834
You'll always have
that sense of belonging --
242
00:16:22,437 --> 00:16:25,036
because you come home. Yeah.
243
00:16:25,875 --> 00:16:28,317
So once you come home,
you know where to come
244
00:16:28,317 --> 00:16:30,596
next time you're out there, wandering, --
245
00:16:30,929 --> 00:16:34,522
you have a connection there.
246
00:16:34,626 --> 00:16:37,263
You've made some connections already here.
247
00:16:38,782 --> 00:16:40,365
You're no longer disconnected.
248
00:16:41,944 --> 00:16:45,368
I left my conversation with John
feeling like I belong
249
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,764
in a way that I've never felt before.
250
00:16:48,794 --> 00:16:50,816
It was an incredibly
powerful experience
251
00:16:50,816 --> 00:16:54,032
that made me feel more
connected to my spirit.
252
00:16:57,835 --> 00:17:02,606
Tell me again, like,
your family story with Wabasca.
253
00:17:02,830 --> 00:17:06,280
My mother grew up there,
my father grew up in Grouard, --
254
00:17:07,304 --> 00:17:08,430
a couple hours away,
255
00:17:08,430 --> 00:17:11,066
and she didn't want
to raise me on the reserve.
256
00:17:11,197 --> 00:17:13,963
So as soon as they found out
about me, they moved away.
257
00:17:14,254 --> 00:17:16,355
And when we move to Edmonton,
through the teen years,
258
00:17:16,355 --> 00:17:19,446
through my adult years, that's when
the reconnection really started to happen,
259
00:17:19,446 --> 00:17:20,948
going home more happen.
260
00:17:21,075 --> 00:17:25,332
Before that, I would only visit,
like, holidays, few times a year.
261
00:17:27,167 --> 00:17:32,262
Dusty Legrand is the creator of
the clothing label Mobilize Waskawēwin.
262
00:17:32,662 --> 00:17:36,387
Using the ancient writing system
of Cree syllabics and his designs,
263
00:17:36,579 --> 00:17:39,378
he's making the language
visible to a new generation.
264
00:17:42,066 --> 00:17:43,815
Yeah, so this was the --
265
00:17:45,793 --> 00:17:47,471
- it has the --
- Oh yeah,
266
00:17:47,471 --> 00:17:51,227
the different languages,
tribes of the north.
267
00:17:51,672 --> 00:17:53,333
Yeah, it tells the story of --
268
00:17:53,882 --> 00:17:55,759
a bunch of people.
And it was really special to hear, like,
269
00:17:55,759 --> 00:17:58,623
the feedback from different people
that had never seen
270
00:17:58,623 --> 00:18:01,055
their nation represented on a ....
271
00:18:01,288 --> 00:18:04,739
There were certain people that;
this was like their first time.
272
00:18:04,739 --> 00:18:08,200
They're like, "I'm just buying this just because
I've never seen my nation represented."
273
00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,206
Yeah, then I put revolution down the arm
just to let them know what's going on.
274
00:18:12,206 --> 00:18:13,303
[Laughs]
275
00:18:14,104 --> 00:18:15,782
I've been always wanting
to create a clothing brand.
276
00:18:15,782 --> 00:18:19,507
So to be able to create something that
can empower indigenous youth
277
00:18:19,507 --> 00:18:22,749
and educate them
on the indigenous history,
278
00:18:22,749 --> 00:18:27,300
on the future, on values
and what it means to be indigenous.
279
00:18:28,998 --> 00:18:32,833
So Mobilize was a way that
I could give voice to the voiceless.
280
00:18:33,130 --> 00:18:34,856
I could give a voice to the youth.
281
00:18:35,017 --> 00:18:37,884
To do it in a different way
than I had seen being done, --
282
00:18:38,481 --> 00:18:39,899
it was very important to me.
283
00:18:39,971 --> 00:18:41,995
To do it completely different,
284
00:18:41,995 --> 00:18:45,399
to represent the funky people,
to represent the different people,
285
00:18:45,399 --> 00:18:48,628
to represent everybody
that's ostracized that way
286
00:18:48,628 --> 00:18:51,695
and especially as indigenous people,
like, that's been done to us.
287
00:18:52,786 --> 00:18:53,725
Okay.
288
00:18:53,725 --> 00:18:58,963
So this is the first drawing of this shirt.
289
00:18:59,109 --> 00:19:02,390
So, a lot of, like, the pieces will come,
290
00:19:02,390 --> 00:19:04,743
and they'll come at certain times,
when I'm driving,
291
00:19:04,743 --> 00:19:06,437
when I'm listening to certain things.
292
00:19:06,676 --> 00:19:09,125
And they'll come and if I don't write it
the way it's supposed to be,
293
00:19:09,125 --> 00:19:10,634
the idea won't stay.
294
00:19:11,266 --> 00:19:14,334
I want to try to encompass all of Canada
295
00:19:14,334 --> 00:19:17,218
and I'm gonna try to reach
as many as I can.
296
00:19:17,218 --> 00:19:20,156
So for me this was like a lot of studying,
297
00:19:20,156 --> 00:19:24,849
a lot of research to try to see
as far east as I could go
298
00:19:24,849 --> 00:19:26,717
and see what nations are there.
299
00:19:27,073 --> 00:19:29,247
And that's what is special
about the language I find.
300
00:19:29,247 --> 00:19:36,206
It's that the stories, and the purpose,
and everything exists within the language.
301
00:19:36,206 --> 00:19:38,695
That's in kind of a place
that it's been locked.
302
00:19:38,695 --> 00:19:41,445
And it remains, and even though --
303
00:19:41,833 --> 00:19:44,450
the assimilation
has taken a lot of, like, --
304
00:19:44,647 --> 00:19:49,350
our connection to community,
our ceremonies, our practices.
305
00:19:49,350 --> 00:19:51,457
The language has kept all of that.
306
00:19:52,395 --> 00:19:54,138
How did you get the Cree word?
307
00:19:54,138 --> 00:19:58,103
Yes, well, the Cree word is
on the back of this one here.
308
00:19:58,297 --> 00:19:59,103
Okay.
309
00:20:00,270 --> 00:20:03,817
So I just keep it as like Mobilize
is the English version
310
00:20:03,817 --> 00:20:05,310
and then Waskawēwin,
311
00:20:05,648 --> 00:20:09,536
which is the Cree word for movement,
is the Cree element that comes in.
312
00:20:11,074 --> 00:20:14,631
Mobilize didn't have a translation.
313
00:20:15,141 --> 00:20:18,228
But I also didn't want to
just translate mobilize,
314
00:20:18,228 --> 00:20:21,784
I wanted to use movement
as the word.
315
00:20:22,113 --> 00:20:25,162
So one thing that I really liked
about the word waskawēwin
316
00:20:25,611 --> 00:20:28,648
was the presence of
the triangular symbols,
317
00:20:28,648 --> 00:20:31,824
and for me these represented,
like, two tipis
318
00:20:32,241 --> 00:20:34,297
and kind of represented
the tribe that way.
319
00:20:34,442 --> 00:20:37,103
Being a part of Reuben's class
was really special to understand
320
00:20:37,103 --> 00:20:40,812
the fundamentals of and to learn
the history of the star chart
321
00:20:40,812 --> 00:20:43,178
and to learn the history of syllabics.
322
00:20:43,494 --> 00:20:45,793
Yeah, it was like learning
indigenous history
323
00:20:45,793 --> 00:20:47,854
through the spirit mechanism.
324
00:20:47,854 --> 00:20:49,548
That was really special.
325
00:20:49,548 --> 00:20:52,319
He kind of just takes you back
and he tells you the stories.
326
00:20:52,598 --> 00:20:55,445
And he takes you
through a journey through story
327
00:20:55,635 --> 00:20:59,547
of the significance of the numbers
of the grandfather directions,
328
00:20:59,547 --> 00:21:01,095
the grandmother directions.
329
00:21:12,673 --> 00:21:15,018
Yeah, înîw.
330
00:21:17,545 --> 00:21:20,358
And what does that mean, înîw?
331
00:21:20,482 --> 00:21:22,475
It's a collapsed word.
332
00:21:23,239 --> 00:21:26,861
Iyiniw actually is the way it's said.
333
00:21:31,544 --> 00:21:33,448
From what I understand; --
334
00:21:35,076 --> 00:21:37,798
talk a little bit about colonization --
335
00:21:38,808 --> 00:21:42,949
and taking over lands,
the lands of original people; --
336
00:21:43,308 --> 00:21:46,044
what I understand,
first thing you got to do is
337
00:21:46,044 --> 00:21:49,412
you got to get rid of
those people's deity, the name,
338
00:21:49,412 --> 00:21:52,780
and replace it with yours
when you're colonizing people.
339
00:21:53,685 --> 00:21:58,735
So our dename for Néhiyaw people was aî, --
340
00:21:59,369 --> 00:22:05,083
and we have a different paradigm
as far as dogma is concerned.
341
00:22:06,652 --> 00:22:10,193
You are aîs, I am aîs,
342
00:22:10,193 --> 00:22:12,746
so a diminutive of aî.
343
00:22:13,270 --> 00:22:16,679
So aîsînîw.
344
00:22:20,363 --> 00:22:25,665
But this is a collapsed version
of that iyiniw, înîw.
345
00:22:29,381 --> 00:22:30,912
Wow, 3D.
346
00:22:30,968 --> 00:22:32,293
Iskotew.
347
00:22:34,854 --> 00:22:36,096
Iskotew.
348
00:22:37,495 --> 00:22:39,051
Fantastic.
349
00:22:41,754 --> 00:22:44,562
So we have a relationship with the earth,
350
00:22:44,893 --> 00:22:50,346
and that relationship is that
we relate to her as mother.
351
00:22:51,531 --> 00:22:58,249
So she when she brings forth
those different people --
352
00:22:59,439 --> 00:23:01,906
the plant people, the different ones,
353
00:23:01,906 --> 00:23:06,203
that's sâkipakâw coming
out of the trees, out of the grass.
354
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,342
And so she's showing us what love is.
355
00:23:10,666 --> 00:23:12,602
It's practical.
356
00:23:12,891 --> 00:23:14,718
So she'll give us all of this.
357
00:23:15,232 --> 00:23:17,778
We will be nurtured by it.
358
00:23:18,415 --> 00:23:23,689
The dandelions somewhere
and different grasses.
359
00:23:23,689 --> 00:23:27,353
The four-legged people will eat from that.
360
00:23:27,353 --> 00:23:33,123
We will, in turn, get our sustenance
from the four-legged people,
361
00:23:33,123 --> 00:23:36,874
but she's giving us all of that,
showing us that love.
362
00:23:36,874 --> 00:23:42,416
Now, sâki is the morpheme of that word.
363
00:23:42,496 --> 00:23:48,050
And if I were to say to you,
"I love you," I would say ki-sākihitin.
364
00:23:49,258 --> 00:23:52,070
Some people say ki-sāki-itin,
365
00:23:52,499 --> 00:23:55,517
and I say ki-sākihitin.
366
00:23:55,736 --> 00:23:58,744
That's how I've been taught: ki-sākihitin.
367
00:23:58,744 --> 00:24:01,362
I love you or you are loved by me.
368
00:24:01,855 --> 00:24:08,138
So that's a good word to learn
to say to your loved ones.
369
00:24:10,575 --> 00:24:13,763
That's one of the only words
that I know to say to my partner.
370
00:24:13,763 --> 00:24:14,763
[Laughs]
371
00:24:15,939 --> 00:24:19,671
Yes, and see how that
it's coming into bloom.
372
00:24:20,156 --> 00:24:22,046
It's gonna start blossoming.
373
00:24:22,046 --> 00:24:26,391
It'll continue to grow and then
it'll go through its cycle, --
374
00:24:26,752 --> 00:24:32,118
just like we will come into
a relationship with others.
375
00:24:38,956 --> 00:24:42,820
This really sticks out to me,
when I came here last summer, --
376
00:24:44,616 --> 00:24:45,632
as a special place.
377
00:24:45,632 --> 00:24:51,419
Not only Amy's piece, but the other artwork
and it's kind of perched over the river.
378
00:25:01,698 --> 00:25:09,603
When did you begin learning about
syllabics and the spirit marker system?
379
00:25:10,521 --> 00:25:13,189
When we were liberated
from residential school,
380
00:25:13,189 --> 00:25:16,986
probably 1970 or 1971,
I don't remember.
381
00:25:17,177 --> 00:25:18,281
I was just young.
382
00:25:18,677 --> 00:25:23,455
and the late Rosana Hole and
late Caroline Hunter would come in
383
00:25:23,455 --> 00:25:27,175
and teach us about them, me and my peers.
384
00:25:28,970 --> 00:25:33,023
So that's when I started learning
the system that I know about.
385
00:25:33,389 --> 00:25:38,543
And it was made so simply
for me to learn it --
386
00:25:38,950 --> 00:25:42,395
that I passed it on
the way that was taught to me,
387
00:25:42,395 --> 00:25:49,757
and I guarantee that people
will master that writing system.
388
00:25:54,527 --> 00:25:59,271
I always tell the ones
that are coming in to learn,
389
00:26:01,979 --> 00:26:04,124
"Take your page and go to the center."
390
00:26:04,124 --> 00:26:06,188
I tell them, "That's where
we're gonna start off."
391
00:26:06,188 --> 00:26:09,841
because we're used to writing
from the top to the right,
392
00:26:09,841 --> 00:26:11,692
left to right, left to right.
393
00:26:12,434 --> 00:26:13,646
But in this one, --
394
00:26:14,784 --> 00:26:18,505
you go from the center
and you start from inside.
395
00:26:18,571 --> 00:26:20,142
So there's the center there.
396
00:26:20,142 --> 00:26:23,343
I'll go left of center
and write the first one, --
397
00:26:24,282 --> 00:26:25,920
and that's this one here.
398
00:26:27,576 --> 00:26:29,611
This one is a phonetic language.
399
00:26:29,834 --> 00:26:32,066
So that one says ah.
400
00:26:33,264 --> 00:26:35,868
And it's also the sound.
401
00:26:36,782 --> 00:26:39,922
The first sound that people will make --
402
00:26:42,842 --> 00:26:45,869
when they're praying and worshiping.
403
00:26:46,285 --> 00:26:50,179
They'll say something like, â-kisemanito.
404
00:26:50,474 --> 00:26:54,469
They'll describe that supreme being --
405
00:26:54,922 --> 00:27:00,133
and the supreme being's name,
this part of this as well. ā.
406
00:27:00,810 --> 00:27:05,027
Ā someone then will say, "???", --
407
00:27:05,771 --> 00:27:07,057
describing again.
408
00:27:08,976 --> 00:27:12,236
They'll endear themselves
to that supreme being
409
00:27:12,236 --> 00:27:15,453
by calling that supreme being father of all.
410
00:27:15,453 --> 00:27:18,359
Ā ???.
411
00:27:18,590 --> 00:27:24,581
So I say, "???" in recognition.
There's you, me and the supreme being.
412
00:27:24,686 --> 00:27:26,121
???.
413
00:27:26,121 --> 00:27:28,303
A lot of people say, "???"
414
00:27:28,303 --> 00:27:31,486
That's what I've learned.
That's probably how you've heard it quite a bit.
415
00:27:31,486 --> 00:27:35,413
So that one near says, "???",
this one says "???"
416
00:27:35,413 --> 00:27:37,462
There's that ???.
417
00:27:38,668 --> 00:27:41,702
So who's ah ba la
418
00:27:43,117 --> 00:27:46,649
And there's four of them, like I said,
going off into the east:
419
00:27:46,649 --> 00:27:50,219
Miki nice ET wreath
420
00:27:50,219 --> 00:27:54,041
And there's seven of them, like I said.
There's seven tectonic plates --
421
00:27:54,862 --> 00:27:58,667
going off into the south,
is the same vowel sound.
422
00:27:58,802 --> 00:28:03,696
And then into the southwest,
there's what I like to call the anomaly.
423
00:28:04,290 --> 00:28:05,876
It's a a vowel sound.
424
00:28:05,876 --> 00:28:16,374
???
425
00:28:16,764 --> 00:28:18,626
A vowel sound ooh.
426
00:28:18,626 --> 00:28:23,018
And thank you Dr. James Makokis
for correcting me on that.
427
00:28:23,018 --> 00:28:27,480
I used to go o, borrowing from English.
428
00:28:28,551 --> 00:28:31,052
He said that, "Oh isn't it ooh?"
429
00:28:31,052 --> 00:28:35,254
and I said, "Hey yeah, that's right."
???.
430
00:28:36,979 --> 00:28:39,026
And then they're smaller --
431
00:28:41,586 --> 00:28:45,512
and these are way smaller
than the big ones, big spirit markers,
432
00:28:45,512 --> 00:28:47,618
small spirit markers here.
433
00:28:49,089 --> 00:28:50,340
To complete --
434
00:28:53,518 --> 00:28:59,586
what Dr. Marilyn Shirt
has called the star chart.
435
00:29:03,749 --> 00:29:06,570
So the one I told you --
436
00:29:20,568 --> 00:29:23,517
??? --
437
00:29:24,478 --> 00:29:29,686
that's, "You are loved by me or I love you."
438
00:29:30,618 --> 00:29:31,618
???
439
00:29:32,272 --> 00:29:35,229
Yeah, ???
440
00:29:38,059 --> 00:29:40,207
So that's the writing system there.
441
00:29:40,963 --> 00:29:45,250
My hope is that it will help
to instill pride in those --
442
00:29:45,705 --> 00:29:49,580
for those young people --
443
00:29:49,866 --> 00:29:52,550
because this is a racist country --
444
00:29:53,686 --> 00:29:56,431
and it was born out of racism.
445
00:29:57,067 --> 00:30:00,705
And of course racism disconnects people.
446
00:30:01,329 --> 00:30:02,902
This one connects us.
447
00:30:04,432 --> 00:30:07,282
And all have access to it, --
448
00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:11,890
whatever ethnicity you are from.
449
00:30:13,271 --> 00:30:15,256
It all makes sense to everybody.
450
00:30:15,256 --> 00:30:19,508
It can make sense to everyone
and we can start connecting.
451
00:30:22,176 --> 00:30:25,223
What they taught us
in the residential schools
452
00:30:25,223 --> 00:30:32,255
is that we were worth less than Europeans.
453
00:30:33,271 --> 00:30:37,652
And this one teaches us that ??? --
454
00:30:40,895 --> 00:30:45,209
will have the same measurements
as far as humanity.
455
00:30:45,209 --> 00:30:48,591
Our DNA says that we're all the same.
456
00:30:53,898 --> 00:30:58,265
I want to thank you so much
for sharing about this because --
457
00:30:59,054 --> 00:31:02,827
I can see the the brilliance
and sophistication --
458
00:31:03,744 --> 00:31:09,435
within the way you've shown and explained,
459
00:31:09,813 --> 00:31:13,279
and it piques my interest
and makes me want to learn more.
460
00:31:13,279 --> 00:31:16,489
It makes me want to move out here
so I could take one of your classes.
461
00:31:16,489 --> 00:31:17,705
Yeah.
462
00:31:20,272 --> 00:31:22,078
Thank you so much for sharing this.
463
00:31:22,861 --> 00:31:24,404
An honor and a privilege.
464
00:31:26,872 --> 00:31:27,902
♪[Music]♪