There is a teaching I love about Indigenous resilience and the strength of the braid. The braid has three strands, each representing an important aspect of our resilience as Indigenous peoples. First, our connection to the Land. As Indigenous people, our connection to the Land is everything. The Land is sacred. Mother Earth gives us everything we need, and in return it is our job to care for Her. That sacred connection is at the forefront of an Indigenous world view – it is the lens through which we look at the world.
The second strand represents language. Language is our expression. It is the oral tradition in which we have told our stories and passed on knowledge for millennia. Speaking our Indigenous languages is one of the most important things we can do to keep our distinct cultures alive. I love hearing Elders speak Wıı̀lıı̀deh at community events in Yellowknife, or language teachers having a conversation in Tłı̨chǫ out at Chief Jimmy Bruneau School (CJBS) in Edzo. My heart flutters at the sound of Cree, the language of my Kokum and other ancestors, during ceremony. It makes me feel closer to the ones who came before me.
Finally, the last strand in the braid is Culture. It includes our ceremonies, traditional practices like hunting and fishing, our crafts, foods, our communities, and everything else that makes us Indigenous peoples. These three strands of Land, Language and Culture braided together strengthen our resilience and keep our ways of life alive and well.
This teaching demonstrates the foundational nature of language. Language holds nuanced and important knowledge that is intricately intertwined with the Land and Culture. The only way we will keep languages alive, is to speak them – so let’s speak together! Put yourself into scenarios where Indigenous languages are being spoken. Listen, ask questions and, most importantly, be brave enough to make mistakes.
There are nine official Indigenous languages spoken in the Northwest Territories. Fluent speakers of these important languages are dwindling in most cases. I challenge you to pick one of these languages and to learn a simple greeting or introduction. That’s how it begins – that’s how we keep Indigenous languages and cultures alive and growing!
I will leave you with this poem I wrote back in 2019 while completing my diploma in Indigenous Language Revitalization, which helped me to reflect on the power of words.
Choose Your Words Wisely
By Miranda Currie (2019)
Choose your words wisely
Even if you say them shyly
Say them.
Whenever you can.
Say Mahsi Cho!
Even if people don’t know
What you mean.
They might ask.
Then, it can be your task,
To explain.
To be proud to say, it means,
I am grateful.
Choose your words wisely,
Because they are a gift from the Creator.
To save them for later,
Would be a darn shame.
You’d have no one to blame but yourself
Or maybe your mother
For not teaching you.
But, you can’t blame her either
Because she was made
To feel ashamed
That where she came from
Wasn’t good enough.
That she was
Less than.
Just a dirty Indian.
Because of a system
That separated:
People from their land
From their ceremony
From their own families.
A system
That would not listen
To mother tongues
A strap that stung
If she spoke the words she knew
The words that were
Etched in her heart
From the beginning.
So she chose her words wisely.
Choose your words wisely
Even if you say them shyly,
Say them.
Reclaim then.
Pass on the joy they now bring.
In your language – SING!
Sing so loud
The ancestors can hear you.
The ancestors are listening
They want to help you find your way
Offer tobacco and pray
Tell them you are grateful
In the words they are yearning to hear.
Choose you words wisely
They will smile
And be grateful in return
For the breaking of the silence
A halt to the violence.
They will hear
The healing
In your voice,
A healing that comes from
Knowing our language
Knowing our land
Knowing our culture
And knowing ourselves
Once again.
Miranda Currie is a northern Indigenous multi-disciplinary artist/educator and an advocate for Indigenous language revitalization. She lives in Sombe K’e, Denendeh, otherwise known as Yellowknife, where she creates authentic northern Indigenous content that is accessible to all children and their families. You can find out more about her work at www.mirandacurrie.ca.
