Language is about connection: connection to the Land, connection to our values, connection to one another. It's no wonder, then, that our languages were systematically targeted by colonization. Although I grew up hearing the language around me at a young age in Deline, once my family started moving to different communities every few months, that consistency was difficult to maintain.
When we settled down for a while in my dad's community of Tulita, I was grateful for the Indigenous Language and Culture class we had at the school. But without the language being spoken at home, my opportunities to practice were few and far between. Language courses are one important part of learning, but fluency cannot come without living the language daily and having a large pool of language speakers with whom to converse.
That is why, even though I am not a fluent speaker, I ask my kids what they learned that day at Indigenous Language class, I teach them the words that I know, and every February for Indigenous Languages Month we set a challenge of learning one new word a day in both Inuktitut and Dene Kede. Last year, we printed out stickers to put around the house on the objects they learned the words for, with a little rhyme to remember each word and its pronunciation. Our family understands that language learning is not an individual but rather a collective journey. Reclaiming our words and our worldview is not a choice, but a responsibility – and it is not a responsibility held only by Indigenous Peoples. It extends to all people who are within our territory.
I was told that my grandfather, Chief George Kodakin, insisted on employing an interpreter even though he was capable of speaking English. He knew the importance of speaking in his language when making decisions for our community and the Land we steward. For this reason, he obliged Ottawa officials to connect with him and experience the wisdom and strength imbued in Dene Kede. This practice of consciously choosing to connect in our language should be maintained as much as possible to ensure we are truly advocating for what we believe as Dene.
A perfect example of this lies in the word ‘Dene’ itself. It is often translated as 'people' or 'person', but when you break down the parts of the word to ‘De’ and ‘Ne’, it actually means 'when the spirit comes down and becomes one with the Land'. Through this word, we understand that our personhood is not separate from the Land but rather is a part of it. When I reflect on this year's Indigenous Languages Month theme, “Let's Speak Together”, I am cognizant, therefore, that the phrase transcends human to human communication and connects us also to our relationships with the Land, Waters, Spirits and Sky.
When we speak our language, it contains Medicine. Western science is finally understanding that vibration impacts the environment around us. Recently, my dad explained to me that our language is encoded with sacred power, and that we must speak it to the traditional Medicines when we gather them to make them stronger. I understand that this teaching is not merely a preference of one language over another. Rather, it is aligned with what we know about vibration and resonance, and the way the tone of Dene Kede impacts the plants. This teaching also encompasses the fact that, when we speak the language, it evokes love, enlivening our heart centres and changing our magnetic frequencies and surrounding environment.
For this reason, as Western science catches up to our Indigenous ways of knowing, language revitalization will be seen as not only a political question, but also a scientific one. The knowledge our languages hold both connects us to the past as Dene and also acts as an important conduit for all peoples in this territory to find more balanced ways of stewarding this Land as we move forward.
Even learning one word today makes a difference. It brings us closer. It changes the way we relate to all beings in Denendeh. Speaking, learning and sharing our languages with one another is how we grow and connect more deeply. Language is connection.
Carl Jr. Kodakin-Yakeleya
