[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)))))))