Language and
culture must be studied together to know what it means to be Cree,
say teachers
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Andrea
Custer and teaches Cree words and concepts to students at
Sturgeon Lake Central School. (Jason Warick/CBC)
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Sonya Ermine wanted to be in on the joke.
The Sturgeon Lake Central School teacher began learning Cree
several years ago for many reasons, but humour was the catalyst.
"When I hear other people talking in the Cree language and they're
laughing and laughing, I wonder what they're saying, but it must
be funny. I love that sense of humour," Ermine said recently before
heading back into her Grade 1 classroom.
Ermine's father, a residential school survivor, managed to maintain
his fluency in Cree. But she was raised by her non-Cree mother,
so she didn't learn the language. After working in several cities
across the Prairies, Ermine got her education degree from the University
of Saskatchewan. She moved back to teach at Sturgeon Lake, located
approximately 170 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
'I wonder what they're saying . . . it must
be funny.'
- Sonya Ermine |
The move home was a way to connect with her community, but also
to immerse herself in the language. Ermine teaches the Grade 1 children,
but also learns from them.
"It's nice and slow. I'm learning with my students. I feel that
if they're able to learn it, I'm able to learn it."
On a recent afternoon, the students were giggling and playing
with blocks on a large carpet.
"Okay, clean up time. Kanitaschikik. Clean up," Ermine tells
them.
Once the blocks are packed away, the youngsters sit at their
circular table. Ermine cautions her students against walking on
the community's partially-frozen lake, letting them ask and answer
most of the questions themselves.
"I really need you to be safe," she said.
"Don't go on the ice. Have a safe weekend. Listen to Mom. Listen
to Dad. Listen to moshum [grandfather] and kokum [grandmother]."
For Ermine and others, understanding the Cree vocabulary is
important, but it's only one piece of the puzzle. Language must
be integrated with a sense of the land, even something as simple
as a lesson on lake ice.
"You feel a connection with your people but also with the land,"
Ermine said.
"It's a part of our identity."
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Sonya
Ermine moved back to the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in part
to learn Cree. She now teaches at the local school. (Chanss
Lagaden/CBC)
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Lobbying for language support
In the 2016 Census, 69,975 people identified Cree as their mother
tongue. It's the most common Indigenous language spoken in Canada.
In northern areas, Inuktitut (36,185) and Dene (11,325) are also
relatively prominent.
Other Indigenous languages have much smaller numbers. On the
Prairies, just 1,320 people whose mother tongue is Dakota remain.
In Eastern Canada, there are only 1,295 people whose mother tongue
is Mohawk. The numbers are even lower for the Mé?tis language
of Michif, at 750, or the Haida language, at 135. In each of these
cases, fewer than half use it as their main household language.
Some languages are more endangered than others, but Indigenous
leaders say increased supports are urgently needed for all of them.
They're encouraged by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to
work with them on a national law to protect Indigenous languages.
In June 2017, the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis
National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, along with federal
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, announced the co-development of
an Indigenous languages act. The act is expected to be legislated
in the fall of 2018.
"Language is culture and central to our songs, stories, and
ceremonies. The recognition, promotion, and recovery of First Nations
languages the original languages of these lands will
not only strengthen our Nations but enrich the whole country," Assembly
of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde said in a statement at last
year's announcement.
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Sonya
Ermine talk to her Grade 1 class at Sturgeon Lake Central
School. She returned to her home community several years ago
because she wanted to learn more about Cree language and culture.
(Chanss Lagaden/CBC)
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Call to Action #14
The creation of an Indigenous languages act was the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission's Call to Action #14. The call notes the "urgency" of
the matter. It also states that simply creating a law isn't enough.
"The federal government has a responsibility to provide sufficient
funds for Aboriginal language revitalization and preservation,"
states the document.
In the 2017 budget, the federal government committed to $89.9M
over three years to support Indigenous languages and culture. Of
this, $69 million is earmarked for the Aboriginal Languages Initiative,
which in turn funds the development of language learning materials,
language classes and culture camps and archiving Indigenous languages.
But while it is a significant increase in federal funding for
the initiative (prior to the 2017 budget, it was consistently frozen
at $5 million a year), the program is project-based, meaning applicants
must apply for fund money on a project-by-project basis. Furthermore,
a 2015 Canadian Heritage evaluation report revealed that historically,
much of the funding goes unused year after year due to an overly
complicated application process and bureaucratic red tape.
Trudeau also promised to close the funding gap between on-reserve
schools and those in cities and towns. But much of that $2.6 billion
committed over five years extends past the next election. Some communities
also report they haven't yet received any of the money, and they
still receive thousands per student less than other schools.
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Andrea
Custer is one of the teachers working to create a Cree immersion
program at Sturgeon Lake Central School. (Jason Warick/CBC)
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Language integral to culture
Back at Sturgeon Lake, Ermine is far from alone in her desire to
preserve their language. Fellow teacher Andrea Custer and others
are promoting the concept of "land-based" education. Language, land,
spirituality and culture are all connected. They must be studied
and practised together to know what it means to be Cree or "Nehiyaw,"
Custer said.
"Children need to know who they are so they can be proud, to
have integrity, to be resilient," Custer said.
"Reconciliation for me would be to get the financial resources
I need to do my job effectively."
It's the first year at the school for Custer, a member of northern
Saskatchewan's Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. She's teaching new
words to the children, but also showing them how to shake the hands
of elders. It's all part of a deliberate "scaffolding" process,
adding new challenges gradually.
Custer and others teach some classes in Cree, but the vast majority
of instruction is English. The hope is that Sturgeon Lake will get
funding to become a full Cree immersion school. She wants to develop
an entire curriculum based on Cree language outdoor education. That
will have a ripple effect outside the school.
"One or two language teachers are not going to be able to do
it themselves. It's the whole community. Baby steps," she said.
Down the hall from Custer, the still giggling Grade 1 children
file out of Ermine's classroom. Ermine says she dreams of the day
the whole community can speak Cree, connect with the land and embrace
all elements of their culture.
"I feel that because it's been taken, it's important to have
it put back in, so that our people can feel a sense of belonging
again," Ermine said.
"It's who we are."
This story is part of our project Beyond
94: Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. Read more stories in
the series and look for further coverage this week.
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