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Sign
creator, Karihwiióstha Callie Montour, in front of
a sign that asks for dogs to be kept on leash. (photo by Angela
Sarakan)
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Road signs in the language, Kanien'kéha, are popping
up all over Kahnawake. They're there because of Karihwiióstha
Callie Montour.
"The way it is right now, English is kind of the default language.
You see it everywhere. Kanien'kéha isn't really being used,"
she said. "The thing with language is if you want them to survive
and thrive, they have to be used."
Montour said someone can go through Kahnawake, a community 20
minutes south of Montreal, and not have to speak a word of the traditional
language.
"You'll never be asked to. You'll never see the words, You'll
never hear it. To me, that's a problem we have. We teach the language
in the schools and now when the kids finish at 3:00, there's no
Kanien'kéha anywhere,' she said.
Montour's idea was sparked by stop signs she had seen elsewhere
in Cree.
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Another
sign created by Montour, warns drivers they're approaching
a pedestrian crosswalk. (photo by Angela Sarakan)
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"We have our own stop signs in our language but I guess that
sort of made me think, why stop there? Why not go with more signs?
We have road signs all over the place. I think we could use the
language all over,"
Montour created the designs at home and approached the community's
public works department to have them made. Initially, 20 signs were
erected in the community.
Montour learned Kanien'kéha, or Mohawk, in an adult immersion
program. She said it's a descriptive language, where words are made
up of smaller syllables.
"To teach the language you have to really teach what every syllable
means, root words. It can be quite difficult to learn as a second
language speaker. I've heard a lot of people say they find it's
a lot more complicated than French or Spanish," she said.
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A
street sign in Kahnawake in the traditional language, Kanien'kéha,
cautions drivers to slow down as children are at play. (photo
by Angela Sarakan)
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Montour said it's nice to see more signs going up in Kahnawake.
"It really just started with a simple idea I had that I never
thought I would do. And all of a sudden, they're all over the place
and people are noticing. I don't know
it's exciting."
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