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[Music]

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I'm fascinated with the way language

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is central to our world view 
as indigenous people.

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I'm a Naheo artist and curator living on
Lekwungen territory in Victoria, BC.

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My personal research centers 
around language revitalization

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and how it connects us
to our cultures and lands.

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Over the past few years I've been 
on a journey to learn

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the Cree language.

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It's been a challenging and 
incredibly rewarding experience.

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Now I want to travel to Alberta, 
where my ancestors are from

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to discover the ways that 
different communities

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are revitalizing their languages.

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My mother and I both grew up 
not knowing anything

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about our Cree family because 
she was adopted out at birth

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as part of the '60s scoop.

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Twelve years ago, 
we met our Cree family,

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and since then I have been

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in a process of connecting 
with the community

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in Wabasca, Alberta, 
the place where my kokum,

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my grandmother Florence, 
was born.

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I recently met Nora Yellowmee,
an administrator

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at the local school,
Oski Pskiknowew Kamik.

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After realizing that we 
were second cousins

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she offered to help
me learn about my family tree.

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(Nora) You have your grandmother, 
Florence.

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and her mother is Isabelle, and then,

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I'm here. And your 
grandmother. And your mom.

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(Narrator) Um, Fancine.

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(Nora) Your first cousins or

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second cousins.
(Narrator) Ok.

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(Nora) And you're down here.
(Narrator) I'm down there.

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Yeah, this is more than,

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a lot more than I knew before 
I met you, before I came up.

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(Nora) Yea, that's Isabelle.

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Nohkom Isabelle.

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(Narrator) This means a lot to me 
to see this.

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Again, um, because
the more that I see it the more that I

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hear about this, and 
talk about it

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it's going to stick and 
I know

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I'll understand more and 
know more through that process

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(Nora) My dream for the language here,

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starting with the school, is to have

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our people who speak 
the language, speak it

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everyday, because we are not getting that.

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There are many Cree speakers working here,

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but they are not speaking it.

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For people, the young families now
the young mothers

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speak Cree to their children

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and all the rest of it all follow.

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Seeing a photo of my kukom Florence

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as a young woman created a sense of 
healing and re-connection

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after feeling disconnected 
for most of my life

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Knowing more about my family's history

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has allowed me to connect 
deeper with my ancestors

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There is so much more to discover

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but, like learning the language,

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this will take time.

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The Kapaskwatinak 
Cultural Education Center

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is a place for the Children of Wabaska

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to connect to the land and their culture.

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Knowledge Keeper Lorraine Cardinal

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helps guide the children 
through land based education

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including coming of age ceremonies.

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I'm excited to learn about these teachings

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since I didn't have the opportunities 
to experience them

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Growing up disconnected
from community and family.

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The reason that I do these things,

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like the coming of age because

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it's also my responsibility 
as a Naheo School

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to protect the children,

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creator's children. 
And when I'm protecting creator's children

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we need to teach them those protocols.

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We need to teach those values.

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They need to know them so that they don't

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end up getting hurt in the future.

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And that shame of our language

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and who we are, and our ceremonial ways.

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Losing those has caused big destruction

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in our communities

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Because our children, 
as they're growing up,

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they know who they are,

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they came with the gift 
of knowing who they are.

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I have a responsibility to 
pass those teachings

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on to other children too,

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because they will experiment, 
they will explore

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and we want to prevent them

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from hurting each other or 
hurting themselves, right?

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(Singing and drums)

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(Lorraine) They call that 
oskeskwew (?) oskinîkiskwew (?)

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young manhood and young womanhood.

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I want to thank you and honor you for

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coming into this world.

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You are a blessing to us.

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We are so very honored to have you

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as part of us, Naheo school.

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Always remember to hold your head up, 
don't be ashamed

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and always accept yourself for who you are

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and honor those gifts you brought with you

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And welcome into womanhood

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Welcome.

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It truly is a blessing and an honor to

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have you as a young Naheo (Iskhoo?),

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A young Naheo woman and welcome.

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(children talking)

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(Lorraine) Somehow, someway fear got

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instilled in us people. Shame got

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instilled in us as indigenous people.

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Our children, what they experienced here

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today taught them how sacred they are,

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how important they are, how

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beautiful they are and that they are not

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just beautiful in physical form. That

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they're beautiful in spiritual form too.

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All we need to do is believe in them, to

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love them, and to tell them that they're

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important and they'll start feeling

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good about themselves. I'm proud of

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them. Their spirit is still alive and well.

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(Narrator) What do you see being the way

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forward so that these young ones in the
community

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can not only understand the language

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and its relationship to their spirit

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and their relationship, to the land

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to each other and to themselves but be

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speaking it? How do you feel about

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the future of the language in these

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next generations to come?

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We have to believe in ourselves to be able

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to do it, and we need to set our goal and

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if it revitalizes the language then lets

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do that. How do we learn Cree? We learned

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it sitting around with the old people

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visiting eachother and our parents

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speaking to us, you know? So, we can get

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it back. We just need to do it.

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John Bigstone is a Wabiskaw elder

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who carries vast spiritual and

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ceremonial knowledge.

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He invited me to the land where he holds

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sweat lodge ceremonies to share teachings

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about the spirit within our languages.

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(Music)

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(Inhales deeply)

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It clears your mind when you breathe in

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this smudge.

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English language is inadequate if you are going

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to describe spirit.

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Its inadequate.

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They named it according to their

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connection to the plant becuase they spoke

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to the plant and they had a connection.

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They had a connection to all of life. They

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understood their environment.

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They understood that everything was alive,

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and your spirtit has a connection to that

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spirit of mother earth, and everything

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that grows on her body.

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Prior to contact, everything that was

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described in a more spiritual way.

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You know, had a spiritual meaning.

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(((((((((Time- 10:31)))))))