Bruce Starlight honoured for work in preserving Tsuut'ina language with postage stamp
Starting June 20, Canadians buying stamps for their mail will notice new faces on the postage — including that of Indigenous leader Bruce Starlight.
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Starlight will have his face on a stamp, alongside Julia Haogak and Sophie McDougall, as tribute for their work in preserving the culture and languages of their Inuit, Metis and First Nations communities.
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The stamps are to be unveiled separately, with the one featuring Starlight unveiled Thursday at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex and Jim Starlight Centre in Tsuut'ina Nation.
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The stamps featuring Haogak and McDougall were unveiled June 13 and 17, respectively.
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'Not everybody gets the honour to be put on a postage stamp,' Starlight said during Thursday's unveiling.
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One of the last remaining fluent speakers of the Tsúut'ínà language, Starlight founded an institution in 2008 dedicated to instructing others in the language and developing materials for Tsúut'ínà instruction, including dictionaries and recordings. He served numerous roles since the 1970s as councillor, language commissioner for the Tsúut'ínà chief and council, and the first elected Indigenous director on the Calgary Stampede board of directors. After his retirement in 2022, he continued to advocate and advise on Indigenous issues.
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His most recent contribution is a collaboration on a collection of traditional narratives and historical accounts in Tsúut'ínà and a Tsúut'ínà-to-English glossary.
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'There's very few of us left,' he said, of those who can speak the language. 'And of the 24, only 12 of us can get around. So we're saving an actual dead language.'
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Tyler Thomas, director of Indigenous and Northern Affairs at Canada Post, said the unveiling comes as part of the company's annual initiative to release an Indigenous leader stamp series.
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Now in its fourth year, the company works with the Assembly of First Nations, Metis National Council and the Inuit Tapirit Kanatami to identify individuals worthy of being placed on the stamps.
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