Reclaiming the language: First Nation community connects through lost and forgotten words

CBC

2 days ago

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Surrounded by the sounds of nature on N'Swakomok sacred grounds, a group gathered recently to speak, learn and bring the words of their ancestors back to life during a language camp.
"Being here back home on the land is so meaningful it resonates from within," said Amelia McComber
McComber is the Cultural Resource Coordinator for the N'Swakomok Native Friendship Centre. Organizing the event for the community she said was so important.
"The potential of being here and learning the language on the land among with known speakers it's truly a gift," said McComber
She said it's thanks to ancestral families who were able to keep true to the lineage and knowledge that she and the rest of the community members were able to gather and continue to learn the language.
McComber shared how culture encompasses every part of them and how much power words have. She shared the program was bread out of the ancestors whom shoulders she stood on that fought really hard to pass on knowledge to the future generations.
"Nothing we do is in isolation, we are always informed by seven generations behind us and we are impelled to consider the seven generations to come," said McComber
She shared it's only through that lense of understanding their interconnectedness to the earth and all the beings that surround them that animates their language.
"That's what was taken but it didn't get destroyed so when I can come out on the land and share with the people and grow with the people, I am doing my part to keep the culture alive," said McComber
Among the many community members that gathered on the sacred grounds was Elder Margaret Caw. She moved back to the community four years ago and participated in the event for the first time. Often told she speaks fluently in the language, she sees herself still as someone who still has so much to learn herself knowing a lot of language has been lost.
"When I was young, this would have been in the 60's, my father would say at that time that we are speaking slang. New words come in and people are no longer able to the language." said Elder Caw
She said there are many words she does not know herself even though many view her as being fluent. She added that a great deal of their belief system was lost due to colonialism.
"I hope that the native people who are young learn the importance of having that language, of having that sacredness that's within the language,"
She added for as long as their are people coming and ready to learn, Elder's like herself will continue to sit and pass on the knowledge for years to come.
"That is what this is, a spiral of life, our life, our culture that is held within the language,"