On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the Student Union Society (SUS) hosted the first module this semester for their Advanced Leadership Program (ALP), titled “The Revitalization of Indigenous Languages.” The module was free for students and community members to attend, though students were eligible to receive co-curricular credits for the program if they stayed behind after the event to write a reflection on their experience.
The module was arranged as a two-part event, starting with a presentation from Marny Point, the urban program coordinator for the Indigenous Teacher Education program (NITEP) and lecturer for the First Nations and Endangered Languages program (FNEL) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Unfortunately, Point unknowingly drove to the Chilliwack campus, so the SUS team decided to switch things up and begin the module by breaking students up into four table groups and giving them questions to discuss. I was placed at table four with seven other students. Our question was “Should public schools teach Indigenous languages, or should Indigenous languages only be taught in Indigenous schools?” Other questions included “Are dying languages worth saving?” and “What are the causes of dying languages?”
Our group had some great discussions; afterwords, all the tables took turns sharing what they came up with. Students mentioned that public institutions, like schools, represent settler colonialism and may not be the best place to teach Indigenous languages. Others mentioned that First Nations people should be the ones to teach the languages, and concerning the issue of having official languages, students mentioned that the idea of an “official” language is possibly just another Western construct that may not be valued by Indigneous or other cultures.
When Point arrived we shuffled back into Evered Hall for her presentation. She introduced herself as a fisherwoman from Musqueam First Nation and a teacher of the h?n?q??min??m? (hunk-a-meen-um) language of the Musqueam band, different from Halq’eméylem — which is the larger dialect of the Coast Salish people. Point joked that “If your stomach doesn’t bounce, and if you’re not spittin’ on people, then you’re not speaking h?n?q??min??m?!”
While acknowledging the Stó:l? land that UFV is situated on, she stated that First Nations have a “connection to our land and our rivers, and the knowing ways, and the people in our stories connect us with who we are, and give us that power and that identity to walk into the world, and in academia.”
She said that it’s important for learners to be informed of the far-reaching history of colonialism, including residential schools, the ‘60s Scoop, the banning of cultural ceremonies, and the White Paper, among others.
Point then discussed that she teaches Indigenous language for her family and “those who have gone before us.” She shared a piece from her great-grandfather, Chief Dan George’s “A Lament for Confederation” speech, quoting: “I shall grab the instruments of the white man’s success — his education, his skills, and with these new tools I shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society.”
Point then explained “We need the very thing that harmed us, and had such a detrimental effect on our people — education is the one thing that will also bring us back to who we need to be.”
Intergenerational learning is part of the oral traditions in her culture, which encourages people to tune in and listen when they are being told a story or teaching so that they may act as witnesses and can share the stories with others.
She went on to say that you cannot translate Indigenous languages word for word, as it often obscures what it is truly said, and that there are a number of non-verbal aspects that go along with language:
“Our Indigneous ways of teaching, and knowing, and connecting — we always are in the moment that our grandfathers, our grandparents, our ancestors were when they’re telling that story — when we’re connecting to that story. It’s true, it’s [with] language that we get to do that. Our understanding of language is more literal, versus how it translates into English.”
For Point, a note of central importance for her and her family is the realization of how much is stored in language: how memories, knowledge, and stories are connected to and ingrained in language. When re-learning and hearing the language of h?n?q??min??m?, she said that it awakened memories. Her uncle, she explained, started taking h?n?q??min??m? classes at UBC, and shared that the language “reawakened in him, and words came alive. The memories and the pictures of where he was in the house, in the kitchen or out in the backyard, he could hear these words happening.”
The fact that many children were beaten in residential schools for speaking their language and men were sent to prison for it adds to the importance of reclaiming the language, and preserving it for future generations.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
