Maddie and Carol-Rose speak of their experiences with Mi’gmaq retention efforts.
For the full post click here.
Maddie and Carol-Rose featured on the Canadian Language Museum Blog
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Category Archives: In the media
Douglas Gordon featured in McGill Reporter “Notes from the Field”
Douglas Gordon, who spent his first summer in Listuguj last summer, has published a piece in the McGill Reporter’s “Notes from the Field”. Douglas writes about his experiences in Listuguj and the efforts of the Mi’gmaq language revitalization project ongoing there. View his story here.
“Notes from the Field” features posts by McGill students and professors who have done fieldwork and research across the world.
Janine Metallic and Michael Hamilton on CKUT’s All Things McGill
On Monday September 1st, MRP members Janine Metallic and Michael Hamilton were featured on 90.3FM CKUT’s show “All Things McGill“. CKUT invited them to talk about the community-linguistics partnership between Listuguj and the McGill Linguistics Department.
Janine spoke on how the project began as a linguistics Field Methods course. “In sharing a knowledge about my language, I would also expect the class as a whole to share something with the community and so that’s where the partnership really started to take hold. All the students’ projects in the class were directed at parts of the Mi’gmaq language where they could come back to the community and present. And that’s what they did at the end of the semester.”
Michael spoke on the changing nature of research and fieldwork. He discussed the unfortunate tradition in many academic disciplines where there is “a lot of taking of knowledge and not a lot of sharing” adding that “recently this trend has been changing and we wanted to be part of this changing trend where knowledge can flow both ways.”
You can listen to the show here (scroll to minute 6 for the programme to begin).
Updates from the Partnership: Workshop, Instagram Contest, Quizlet & More!
The Second Mi’gmaq Language Summer Workshop is being held Tuesday August 5, beginning at the Listuguj Bingo Hall. Guest speakers Starr Paul of Eskasoni and Diane Mitchell of Listuguj will speak on the importance of learning the Mi’gmaq language and programs that help support language learning. The theme of the workshop is learning language through social media. There will be fun cultural booths set up around the workshop that include basket-making, language learning resources and replicas of Mi’gmaq language classrooms. Breakfast and lunch is provided. All events are free. This workshop would not be possible without the organizing committee of the high school graduate and post secondary students attending Mi’gmaq classes.
Win an iPod s
huffle by posting a video of you speaking Mi’gmaq on instagram with the hashtag #migmaqcontest or post the video to the Listuguj Mi’gmaw Language Club on Facebook.
huffle by posting a video of you speaking Mi’gmaq on instagram with the hashtag #migmaqcontest or post the video to the Listuguj Mi’gmaw Language Club on Facebook.Only 3 weeks in and already 27 sets and 258 words and phrases ready to be studied have been created in Quizlet, the flashcard app and website! Mary Ann Metallic has been adding words after each class that coincide the content she teaches in the class. Community members from around Listuguj have lent their voices to record terms and phrases to help you learn Mi’gmaq. We welcome any community members to volunteer to record a set! Contact the Education Directorate to record.
See whose voices you recognize already!
Voices on there are Lola Vicaire, River Ajig, Vicky Metallic, Joyce Barnaby, Mary Ann Metallic, Janice Vicaire, Joe Wilmot, Donna Lexi Metallic and many more!
Daily dose of Mi’gmaq words with #migmaqwordoftheday on the LearnMigmaq twitter.
Douglas, Silver, Joe and Diane have been working to reorganize and continue to develop content on CAN 8. This includes a more interactive user interface with more ways to test and improve knowledge of Mi’gmaq. This places an emphasis on showing rather than telling users patterns in the language.
Twitter, instagram, language club and more!
There are many new developments going on this summer to spread the Mi’gmaq language. Follow us on instagram, twitter and facebook to stay involved!
Twitter – @learnmigmaq follow word of the day #migmaqwordoftheday
Instagram – @learnmigmaq weekly videos with vocabulary and dialogue in the Mi’gmaq language. Also check out Savvy Simon’s videos on instagram (@msnativewarrior). L’nuisi, it’s that easy!
Listuguj Mi’gmaw Language Club – Weekly conversation group meeting every Thursday at 6pm at the Listuguj Education Directorate. All activities are solely in Mi’gmaq – a great way to practice conversation in Mi’gmaq.
Mi’gmaq Language Summer Workshop 2 – Check out our webpage under the workshop section for more information. This event will take place August 5th at the Listuguj Bingo Hall.
How to get involved
Be a part of our social media team! For Mi’gmaq videos, posts or pictures just use the hashtag #SpeakMikmaq or #SpeakMigmaq
Writing in a second language
A recent New York Times article brings up an interesting trend of authors writing in a second language. This is very common in the academic sphere as many academics chose English as the language for publication. However, in the literature sphere, writing in a second language is becoming more common. And it is not just English they are writing in.
The authors say a second language gives them a different perspective, some say even freeing them from the automaticism of a native language. They are able to play with words in ways that native speakers may not do. For example, Bosnian writer, Aleksandar Hemon, has invented new phrases like “clouds and cloudettes”.
Italian writer, Francesca Marciano, says about writing in a second language: “You discover not just words but new things about yourself when you learn a language…I am a different person because I fell in love with English…”
How does Mi’gmaq factor into this? Learners of Mi’gmaq should not think of their second language skills as a crutch. Rather, they can bring new and exciting flavour to the language they are speaking. There have been many successful writers and orators who use a non-native language as their language of choice. A second language can be a new and exciting medium of expression. Not only do you learn about another culture and history but you can also learn about yourself.
Mary Ann Metallic receives LSA’s Excellence in Community Linguistics Award
Mary Ann Metallic, Mi’gmaq language teacher at Listuguj Education Directorate, receives LSA’s Excellence in Community Linguistics Award. The LSA writes:
Mary Ann Metallic has done exemplary work to revitalize the Mi’gmaq language in her home community of Listuguj, Quebec. Her infectious passion for Mi’gmaq has led to the development of a successful teaching program, and her work with linguists has resulted in significant contributions to language documentation and linguistic theory.
The annual LSA meeting will be held in Minneapolis, MN January 2-5, 2014. Mary Ann and her daughter, Janine, will be traveling there. Congratulations Mary Ann!
âpihtawikosisân: “Roadblocks to effective indigenous language development”
For anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the âpihtawikosisân blog, I (Yuliya) highly recommend doing so. I recently read this blog post, which was not only insightful, but also a wonderful read. As a linguist, I was only aware of some of the issues hampering effective indigenous language revitalization: lack of funding, lack of commitment on a wider level, and suspicion in the communities. It turns out that the bigger picture is more complex, and, as the author points out, includes lack of communication (emphasis is mine):
This is not just about money, this is also about coordination and sharing of expertise. We have so many people out there on their own, trying to do the same things over and over again, not even aware of one another. We have Language Nest programs in some communities that are doing very well; we have unique community-based schools that successfully integrate cultural learnings and graduate academically competent students. We have people creating online and print resources, apps and so on. We even have people offering free language classes in urban centres. It often feels to me that we are going in a thousand different directions, and in doing so we are all beating the same path without really moving forward.
I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to read this post, if not for the content, then for the clarity of prose. Using social media, like this blog and the ‘Nnu’gina’masultinej Facebook page, to to communicate, support, and update each other is a small step in the right direction. But taking small steps can produce big results! There are many communities across Canada that are facing similar language issues; it is definitely worth sharing our expertise and experience thus far.
Idle No More and Canada’s Languages
The grassroots Idle No More movement is gaining momentum across Canada. In Listuguj, supporters have blocked and slowed highway traffic and set up blockades at the railroad tracks at Pointe-à-la-Croix to prevent freight trains from passing through. The Mi’gmaq Grand Council recently issued a letter in support of the movement, calling on Canada to respect Mi’gmaq Constitutional and treaty rights. This afternoon, the Van Horne bridge will be closed for a peaceful march, and Listuguj Chief Dean Vicaire will travel to Ottawa to meet with Stephen Harper as part of a delegation of First Nations Leaders.
Vicky Metallic holds a sign at the Van Horne bridge, also pictured on the banner of this blog
Much of the discussion surrounding Idle No More focuses on the Harper Government’s policies on natural resources––and specifically on Bill C-45. But Montreal-based blogger âpihtawikosisân points out that the movement is about more than land and water rights: it is about the relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples more generally.
How does language factor in to all of this? In 1951, 87% of Aboriginal people in Canada spoke an Aboriginal languages as their first language. By 1986 this number had dropped to 29% (Burnaby & Beaujot 1986). At current rates of decline, it is predicted that only four of what were once sixty Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada will survive into the next century (UBC 1996).
These languages have not simply fallen out of use. Rather, their decline began in large part with targeted assimilation efforts by the Canadian Government and churches, specifically in the form of Residential Schools. Residential school attendance was mandatory for Aboriginal children between 1884 and 1948, and the last school did not close until 1996. During this period, some 150,000 children were removed from their homes and forced to stop speaking their languages––often at the threat of physical violence. By forcing children to stop speaking their languages, Residential Schools attempted to take away more than just a means of communication:
If you take a language away from its culture, you take away its greetings, its curses, its praises, its laws, its literature, its songs, its riddles, its proverbs, its cures, its wisdom, its prayers. You are losing those things that essentially are the way of life, the way of thought, the way of valuing, and a particular human reality (Fishman 1996).
Though some steps towards reconciliation have been made, a lot of work is still needed to bring these languages back to their communities.
Given the importance of language to cultural identity, it is no surprise that languages have played an important role in indigenous movements worldwide. Across Canada, advances are being made by community-driven language reclamation efforts. This momentum can be seen clearly in Listuguj. In addition to the Mi’gmaq language classes and immersion program being offered at the Listuguj Education Directorate, a number of other community efforts are underway. See the links under “About this project” above to learn more about the Can-8 language-learning software and the new Master-Apprentice Program currently being piloted in Listuguj.
Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!
Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!
The above is a TED talk about why listening is extremely important when one wants to help someone. This is a very important thing to keep in mind when trying to help out!