Thursday, November 6, 2014

Aboriginal Language Initiative - Speak Mi'kmaq

Kwe, taluisin?


Some basic words and expressions for those interested in the Mi'kmaq language.

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Mi'kmaq Immersion - Vimeo clip

Culture, Education, Language
Jane Meader (and others) speaks about the Mi'kmaq language program. She reflects on the importance of native languages in keeping culture alive.

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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

A Truthful Narrative - FNMI contributions to K-12

Strategies to integrate First Nations, Métis and Inuit contributions
"This article provides educators with strategies to integrate First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) contributions into the Kindergarten to Grade 12 classroom. [...] Building community with students by challenging stereotypes and providing a culturally rich lens that highlights the 500 Nations and their gifts is presented. Each level of education, from elementary to secondary, is briefly described with the appropriate FNMI terms, contributions and across-the-curriculum pedagogical opportunities. The developmental levels of students is also a critical consideration in the presenting, positioning and acquisition of a broader and more truthful narrative about FNMI nations."

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Monday, November 3, 2014

How to revive an American Indian language with no native speakers

The original language of Los Angeles is Tongva
Pamela Munro writes about the challenges and rewards of revitalizing and resurrecting a North American First People's language that had lost all of its native speakers.

Our Gabrielino-Tongva Language Committee has put together a phrasebook—including everything from Chongaa'aa kukuume'a! ("Wash the dishes!") to 'Wiishmenokre ("I love you")—and a little book about animals.  We've had to figure out a lot of things using creativity, common sense, and comparison with other local languages. Now we have a Coyote story (a moral tale like those in Aesop's Fables), the Christmas story, and a version of the Aquarium of the Pacific's blue whale story.

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