[Music]
I'm fascinated with the way language
is central to our world view as indigenous people.
I'm a Naheo artist and curator living on Lekwungen territory in Victoria BC.
My personal research centers around language
revitalization and how it connects us to our cultures and lands.
Over the past few years I've been on a
journey to learn the Cree language.
It's been a challenging and incredibly rewarding experience.
Now I want to travel to Alberta, where my ancestors are
from to discover the different ways that
communities are revitalizing their languages.
My mother and I both grew up not knowing
anything about our Cree family because she was adopted out at birth
as part of the '60s scoop.
Twelve years ago, we met our Cree family,
and since then I have been in a
process of connecting with the community
in Wabasca, Alberta, the place where my
kokum, my grandmother Florence, was born.
I recently met Nora Yellowmee, an administrator
at the local school, Oski Pskiknowew Kamik.
After realizing that we were second
cousins, she offered to help me learn about my family tree.
(Nora) You have your grandmother, Florence.
and her mother is Isabelle, and then,
I'm here. And your grandmother. And your mom.
Um, Fancine.
(Nora) Your first cousins or
second cousins. (Man) Ok.
(Nora) And you're down here. (Man) I'm down there.
Yeah, this is more than,
a lot more than I knew from before I met you, before I came up.
(Nora) Yea, that's Isabelle.
Nohkom Isabelle.
This means a lot to me to see this.
Again, um, because the more that I see it the more that I
hear about this,
and talk about it, it's going to stick and
I'll understand more and know more through that process.
(Nora) My dream for the language here,
starting with the school, is to have
people who speak the language speak it
everyday because we are not getting that.
There are many Cree speakers working here,
but they are not speaking it.
For people, the young families and young
mothers, speak Cree to their children and
all the rest of it all follow.
Seeing a photo of my Cocom (?) Florence
as a young woman created a sense of
healing and re connection. After feeling
disconnected for most of my life, knowing
more about my family's history has
allowed me to connect deeper with
my ancestors. There is so much more to
discover, but like learning the language,
this will take time.
The Kapaskwatinak Cultural Education
Center is a place for the Children of
Wabaska to connect to the land
and their culture.
Knowledge Keeper Lorraine Cardinal helps
guide the children through land based
education including coming of age ceremonies.
I'm excited to learn about these teachings
since I didn't have the opportunities to
experience them. Growing up disconnected
from community and family.
The reason that I do these things,
like the coming of age because its
also my responsibility as a Naheo School
to protect the children, creator's
children. We need to teach them those
protocols. We need to teach them
values. They need to know them so that
they don't end up getting hurt in
the future and that shame of our
language and who we are, and our
cerimonial ways. Losing those has caused
big destruction in our communities
because our children as they're growing
up, they know who they are, they came
with the gift of knowing who they are.
I have a responsibility to pass those
teachings on to other children too
because they will experiment, they will
explore and we want to prevent them
from hurting each other or hurting themselves.
(Singing and drums)
(Lorraine) They call that (??????????),
young manhood and young womanhood.
I want to thank you and honor you for
coming into this world. You are a
blessing to us. We are so very honored
to have you as part of
us, Naheo school. Always remember
to hold your head up, don't be ashamed
and always accept yourself for who you are
and honor those gifts you brought
with you and welcome into
womanhood. Welcome.
It truly is a blessing and an honor to
have you as a young Naheo (Iskhoo?),
A young Naheo woman and welcome.
(children talking)
(Lorraine) Somehow, someway fear got
instilled in us people. Shame got
instilled in us as indigenous people.
Our children, what they experienced here
today taught them how sacred they are,
how important they are, how
beautiful they are and that they are not
just beautiful in physical form. That
they're beautiful in spiritual form too.
All we need to do is believe in them, to
love them, and to tell them that they're
important and they'll start feeling
good about themselves. I'm proud of
them. Their spirit is still alive and well.
(Narrator) What do you see being the way
forward so that these young ones in the community
can not only understand the language
and its relationship to their spirit
and their relationship, to the land
to each other and to themselves but be
speaking it? How do you feel about
the future of the language in these
next generations to come?
We have to believe in ourselves to be able
to do it, and we need to set our goal and
if it revitalizes the language then lets
do that. How do we learn Cree? We learned
it sitting around with the old people
visiting eachother and our parents
speaking to us, you know? So, we can get
it back. We just need to do it.
John Bigstone is a Wabiskaw elder
who carries vast spiritual and
ceremonial knowledge.
He invited me to the land where he holds
sweat lodge ceremonies to share teachings
about the spirit within our languages.
(Music)
(Inhales deeply)
It clears your mind when you breathe in
this smudge.
English language is inadequate if you are going
to describe spirit.
Its inadequate.
They named it according to their
connection to the plant becuase they spoke
to the plant and they had a connection.
They had a connection to all of life. They
understood their environment.
They understood that everything was alive,
and your spirtit has a connection to that
spirit of mother earth, and everything
that grows on her body.
Prior to contact, everything that was
described in a more spiritual way.
You know, had a spiritual meaning.
(((((((((Time- 10:31)))))))