WEBVTT

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Dene Elder Paul Disain said,

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"Our language and culture

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is the window through which
we see the world."

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And on Turtle Island,

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what is now known as North America,

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there're so many unique
and wonderful ways to see the world.

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As a person of Indigenous heritage,

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I'm interested in learning
Anishinaabemowin,

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which is my heritage language,

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because it lets me see the world
through that window.

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It lets me connect with my family,

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my ancestors, my community, my culture.

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And lets me think
about how I can pass that on

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to future generations.

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As a linguist,

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I'm interested in how language
functions generally.

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I can look at phonetics and phonology --

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speech sounds.

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I can look at morphology,
or the structure of words.

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I can look at syntax,

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which is the structure
of sentences and phrases,

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to learn about how humans
store language in our brains

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and how we use it to communicate
with one another.

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For example,

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Anishinaabemowin,
like most Indigenous languages,

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is what's called polysynthetic,

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which means that there are
very, very long words,

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composed of little tiny pieces
called morphemes.

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So I can say, in Anishinaabemowin,
"niwiisin," "I eat,"

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which is one word.

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I can say "nimino-wiisin," "I eat well,"

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which is still one word.

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I can say "nimino-naawakwe-wiisin,"
"I eat a good lunch,"

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which is how many words in English?

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Five words in English,
a single word in Anishinaabemowin.

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Now, I've got a bit of a quiz for you.

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In a one-word answer,
what color is that slide?

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Audience: Green.

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Lindsay Morcom: What color is that slide?

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Audience: Green.

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LM: What color is that slide?

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Audience: Blue.

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LM: And what color is that slide?

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(Audience murmurs)

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Not trick questions, I promise.

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For you as English speakers,

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you saw two green slides
and two blue slides.

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But the way that we categorize colors
varies across languages,

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so if you had been Russian speakers,

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you would have seen two slides
that were different shades of green,

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one that was "goluboy,"
which is light blue,

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one that is "siniy," dark blue.

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And those are seen as different colors.

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If you were speakers of Anishinaabemowin,

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you would have seen slides
that were Ozhaawashkwaa

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or Ozhaawashkozi,
which means either green or blue.

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It's not that speakers
don't see the colors,

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it's that the way they categorize them
and the way that they understand shades

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is different.

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At the same time,

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there are universals in the ways
that humans categorize color,

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and that tells us about how human brains

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understand and express
what they're seeing.

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Anishinaabemowin
does another wonderful thing,

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which is animate, inanimate
marking on all words.

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So it's not unlike how French and Spanish

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mark all words as either
masculine or feminine.

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Anishinaabemowin
and other Algonquian languages

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mark all words
as either animate or inanimate.

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The things that you would think
to be animate are animate,

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things that have a pulse:
people, animals, growing plants.

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But there are other things
that are animate

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that you might not guess, like rocks.

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Rocks are marked as animate,

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and that tells us really interesting
things about grammar,

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and it also tells us
really interesting things

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about how Anishinaabemowin speakers

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relate to and understand
the world around them.

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Now, the sad part of that

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is that Indigenous languages
are in danger.

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Indigenous languages that posses
so much knowledge of culture,

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of history,

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of ways to relate to one another,

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of ways to relate to our environment.

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Having been on this land
since time immemorial,

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these languages have developed here

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and they contain priceless
environmental knowledge

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that helps us relate well
to the land on which we live.

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But they are, in fact, in danger.

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The vast majority of Indigenous
languages in North America

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are considered endangered,

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and those that are not
endangered are vulnerable.

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That is by design.

NOTE Paragraph

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In our laws, in our policies,

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in our houses of governance,

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there have been stated attempts

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to eliminate Indigenous languages
and cultures in this country.

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Duncan Campbell Scott

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was one of the architects
of the residential school system.

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On tabling a bill that required
mandatory residential school attendance

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for Indigenous children in 1920, he said,

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"I want to get rid of the Indian problem.

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Our objective is to continue

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until there is not
a single Indian in Canada

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that has not been absorbed
into the body politic

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and there is no Indian question,
and no Indian Department;

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that is the whole object of this Bill."

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The atrocities that occurred
in residential schools were documented.

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In 1907,

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P.H. Bryce, who was a doctor
and an expert in tuberculosis,

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published a report
that found that in some schools,

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25 percent of children had died
from tuberculosis epidemics

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created by the conditions in the schools.

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In other schools, up to 75 percent
of children had died.

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He was defunded by federal government

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for his findings,

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forced into retirement in 1921,

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and in 1922, published
his findings widely.

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And through that time,

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Indigenous children
were taken from their homes,

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taken from their communities

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and forced into church-run
residential schools

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where they suffered, in many cases,

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serious emotional, physical
and sexual abuse,

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and in all cases, cultural abuse,

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as these schools were designed

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to eliminate Indigenous
language and culture.

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The last residential school
closed in 1996.

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Until that time, 150,000 children or more
attended residential schools

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at 139 institutions across the country.

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In 2007,

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the Indian Residential School
Settlement Agreement came into effect.

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It's the largest class action lawsuit
in Canadian history.

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It set aside 60 million dollars

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for the establishment of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

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The TRC gifted us with the ability
to hear survivor stories,

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to hear impacts
on communities and families

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and to gain access to research

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that explored the full effect
of residential schools

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on Indigenous communities
and on Canada as a whole.

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The TRC found that residential schools

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constituted what's called
cultural genocide.

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They state that, "Physical genocide
is the mass killing of the members

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of a targeted group,

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biological genocide is the destruction
of that group's reproductive capacity.

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And cultural genocide is the destruction
of those structures and practices

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that allow the group
to continue as a group."

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The stated goals of Duncan Campbell Scott.

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So they find that it's cultural genocide,

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although as children's author

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and a great speaker
David Bouchard points out,

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when you build a building,

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and you build a cemetery
next to that building,

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because you know the people
going into that building are going to die,

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what do you call that?

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The TRC also gifted us
with 94 calls to action,

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beacons that can lead the way forward
as we work to reconciliation.

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Several of those pertain directly
to language and culture.

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The TRC calls us to ensure
adequate, funded education,

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including language and culture.

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To acknowledge Indigenous rights,
including language rights.

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To create an Aboriginal Languages Act

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aimed at acknowledging and preserving
Indigenous languages,

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with attached funding.

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To create a position
for an Aboriginal Languages Commissioner

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and to develop postsecondary
language programs

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as well as to reclaim place names
that have been changed

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through the course of colonization.

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At the same time as the Indian
Residential School Settlement Agreement

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came into effect,

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the United Nations adopted

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the United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous People

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in 2007.

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It states that Indigenous people
have the right to establish and control

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their own education
systems and institutions

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providing education
in their own languages,

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in a manner appropriate
to their cultural methods

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of teaching and learning.

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In 2007,

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when that was brought into effect,

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four countries voted against it.

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They were the United States,
New Zealand, Australia

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and Canada.

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Canada adopted the United Nations

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Declaration on the Rights
of Indigenous People in 2010.

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And in 2015, the government
promised to bring it into effect.

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So how are we collectively
going to respond?

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Here's the situation that we're in.

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Of the 60 currently spoken
Indigenous languages in Canada,

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all but six are considered endangered
by the United Nations.

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So, the six that aren't are Cree,
Anishinaabemowin,

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Stoney, Mi'kmaq,

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Dene and Inuktitut.

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And that sounds really dire.

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But if you go on to the Atlas
of the World's Languages in Danger

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through the UNESCO website,

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you'll see a little "r"
right next to that language right there.

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That language is Mi'kmaq.

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Mi'kmaq has undergone
significant revitalization

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because of the adoption
of a self-government agreement

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that led to culture
and language-based education,

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and now there are Mi'kmaq children

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who have Mi'kmaq as their first language.

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There's so much that we can do.

NOTE Paragraph

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These children are students

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in the Mnidoo Mnising
Anishinabek Kinoomaage,

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an immersion school on Manitoulin island,

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where they learn in Anishinaabemowin.

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They arrived at school
in junior kindergarten

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speaking very little,
if any, Anishinaabemowin.

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And now, in grade three and grade four,

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they're testing at intermediate
and fluent levels.

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At the same time,

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they have beautifully high self-esteem.

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They are proud to be Anishinaabe people,

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and they have strong learning skills.

NOTE Paragraph

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Not all education
has to be formal education either.

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In our local community,

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we have the Kingston
Indigenous Language Nest.

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KILN is an organization now,

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but it started six years ago
with passionate community members

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gathered around an elder's kitchen table.

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Since then, we have created
weekend learning experiences

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aimed at multigenerational learning,

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where we focus on passing
language and culture on to children.

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We use traditional games,
songs, foods and activities to do that.

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We have classes

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at both the beginner
and intermediate levels

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offered right here.

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We've partnered with
school boards and libraries

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to have resources and language
in place in formal education.

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The possibilities are just endless,

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and I'm so grateful
for the work that has been done

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to allow me to pass language
and culture on to my son

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and to other children
within our community.

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We've developed a strong,
beautiful, vibrant community as well,

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as a result of this shared effort.

NOTE Paragraph

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So what do we need moving forward?

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First of all, we need policy.

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We need enacted policy
with attached funding

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that will ensure that Indigenous language

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is incorporated meaningfully
into education,

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both on and off reserve.

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On reserve, education is funded
at significantly lower levels

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than it is off reserve.

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And off reserve,

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Indigenous language education
is often neglected,

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because people assume

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that Indigenous people
are not present in provincial schools,

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when actually, around 70 percent
of Indigenous people in Canada today

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live off reserve.

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Those children have equal right
to access their language and culture.

NOTE Paragraph

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Beyond policy, we need support.

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And that doesn't just mean
financial support.

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We need space where we can
carry out activities,

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classes and interaction
with nonindigenous populations as well.

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We need support

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that looks like people
wanting to learn the language.

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We need support where people talk
about why these languages are important.

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And to achieve that, we need education.

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We need access to immersion
education primarily,

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as that is most certainly
the most effective way

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to ensure the transmission
of Indigenous languages.

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But we also need education
in provincial schools,

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we need education
for the nonindigenous populations

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so that we can come to a better
mutual understanding

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and move forward in a better way together.

NOTE Paragraph

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I have this quote hanging
in a framed picture on my office wall.

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It was a gift from a settler ally student
that I taught a few years ago,

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and it reminds me every day

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that we can achieve great things
if we work together.

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But if we're going to talk
about reconciliation,

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we need to acknowledge

00:12:26.534 --> 00:12:29.558
that a reconciliation that does not result

00:12:29.582 --> 00:12:33.307
in the survivance and continuation
of Indigenous languages and cultures

00:12:33.331 --> 00:12:35.410
is no reconciliation at all.

00:12:35.434 --> 00:12:37.228
It is assimilation,

00:12:37.252 --> 00:12:39.863
and it shouldn't be
acceptable to any of us.

00:12:40.204 --> 00:12:43.419
But what we can do
is look to the calls to action,

00:12:43.443 --> 00:12:45.545
we can look to the United
Nations Declaration

00:12:45.569 --> 00:12:47.205
on the Rights of Indigenous People

00:12:47.229 --> 00:12:49.197
and we can come to a mutual understanding

00:12:49.221 --> 00:12:50.529
that what we have,

00:12:50.553 --> 00:12:52.913
in terms of linguistic
and cultural heritage

00:12:52.937 --> 00:12:54.752
for Indigenous people in this country,

00:12:54.776 --> 00:12:55.926
is worth saving.

00:12:56.908 --> 00:12:59.749
Based on that, we can step forward,

00:12:59.773 --> 00:13:01.193
together,

00:13:01.217 --> 00:13:03.876
to ensure that Indigenous
languages are passed on

00:13:03.900 --> 00:13:06.321
beyond 2050, beyond the next generation,

00:13:06.345 --> 00:13:08.478
into the next seven generations.

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:09.508 --> 00:13:12.129
Miigwech. Niawen’kó:wa. Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:13:12.153 --> 00:13:16.563
(Applause)