Hear Indigenous Languages

During NCCIE’s first year, one of the core messages heard during regional workshops and the first national gathering, as well as in individual interviews, was the central importance of languages for and as part of Indigenous education. Going into its second year, NCCIE contemplated how to better represent Indigenous languages and have more Indigenous languages heard on the website. This pilot project, the 10X10 Indigenous Language Initiative, has been created as a result.

When complete, the aim is to be able to view ten stories about Indigenous education programs from the website in ten different languages (plus the language of the initial interview).

These recordings can be used as an educational resource by language instructors in their lessons with language learners.

This project coincides with the United Nations declaration of 2019 as ‘The Year of Indigenous Languages,’ which aims to raise the awareness of:

• Indigenous languages’ contribution to the world’s cultural diversity, and
• Indigenous languages’ central importance for Indigenous ways of knowing.

In this pilot project, NCCIE aims to represent these ten languages:

• Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe)
• Blackfoot
• Dene
• Inuktitut
• Kanien’kéha (Mohawk)
• Michif
• Nehiyawak (Plains Cree)
• An East Coast language
• A West Coast language
• Plus either French or English, depending on the language of the initial interview

These dialects represent languages found in different geographic areas across the country. Due to the technical challenges associated with this pilot project, it was not feasible to include all of the approximately 60 Indigenous languages still spoken in Canada today.

Deepest gratitude is extended to the following language speakers for their contributions to the 10X10 Indigenous Language Pilot Project:

• Anishinaabemowin
  • Isadore Toulouse
  • Shirley Williams
• Blackfoot
  • Beverly Hungry Wolf
  • Thomas Little Bear
• Dene
  • Allan Adam
  • Jessie Sylvestre
• Inuktitut
  • Alexander Alook
  • David Arngnasungaaq
  • Carmen Ikuutaq
• Kanien’kéha (Mohawk)
  • Denise McQueen
  • Frank Miller
• Michif
  • Verna De Montigny
• Nehiyawak (Plains Cree)
  • Dorothy Myo
  • Darren Okemaysim
• French
  • Catherine Charest
  • Guy Michaud
• (Still to come: a West Coast language; an East Coast language)

The NCCIE Content and Website Development Teams tasked with turning this pilot project into a reality are acknowledged below for their technical contributions to this project:

• Terry Massey, NCCIE Senior Content Producer
• Alina Perrault, NCCIE Content Producer/Analyst
• Raven Brass, NCCIE Content Producer
• Stewart Manhas, NCCIE Content Producer
• Guy Michaud, NCCIE Content Producer
• Jamin Mike, NCCIE Content Producer
• Kristy Stonechild, NCCIE Content Producer
• Eve Whiteman-Desjarlais, NCCIE Content Producer
• Nicholas Hayduk, Engineered Code
• Scott Harwood, Amplify Digital Marketing Corporation