[Music]
tannoy up an equate doll neshty ends
call Salem tonight some photos caught
much off aqua mail I just introduced
myself my name is call Salem which is a
Coast Salish name I was given by my
grandmother many years ago in a
traditional Coast sailor ceremony and
I’ve gone by this name ever since
whereas before I went by my English name
or what I sometimes call my government
name I don’t identify myself with that
name anymore because I made a commitment
a personal commitment for myself that as
somebody who was learning my language my
indigenous language and as somebody who
wanted to promote and strengthen the
connection to my indigenous language I
thought why not identify myself and go
into the world with my indigenous name
that comes from my indigenous language
and so I’ve done that ever since and
part of living by this name this
indigenous name that comes from this
territory that I grew up in is that it
invites me to engage people all the time
in a practice of humility and patience
which are both very useful values to
have when you’re a language teacher
which I have been for the last few years
because every time I meet somebody it’s
constantly a reminder a practice of how
I can be generous and kind and and with
with teaching people how to pronounce my
name and so many people are very very
self-conscious about whether they’re
gonna say my name correctly or wrongly
and all that kind of stuff but when
you’re learning a language it’s really
important to make mistakes and it’s
really important that you learn to make
mistakes and that making mistakes is a
good thing to do so one of my dreams
over the last few years has been to see
the return of my peoples language the
Squamish language is one of the most
endangered languages in British Columbia
the first peoples Cultural Council in
2014 released a report on the status of
BC First Nations languages and out of
the the many languages that exist in BC
Squamish was in the top three what that
meant was we only have a handful of
speakers who are over the age of 75 most
of them are elderly and it’s something
that if we don’t do something drastic in
our lifetime we’re gonna see the decline
and eventually extinction of our
language
however the story is actually not one of
a dying language the census that has
just come out from Canada is showing
that indigenous language speakers across
the country is going up the first
people’s cultural council report in 2014
showed that the number of language
learners is going up and so the myth of
dying indigenous language is actually
not true young people like myself are
committing themselves to becoming
speakers of our indigenous languages and
this is despite any major program being
done by Canada to support indigenous
languages just in the last few years the
Government of Canada only funded
languages at a pro five million a year
compared to English and French which
received close to a billion dollars a
year in government funding so one of the
things that I’m on a mission to share
with the rest of the world and with
Canadians is that I think indigenous
languages would make Canada a far more
indigenous indigenous place and I think
it would make Canada a far more
interesting place that Canada has as
rich history that it is now part of it
that we as indigenous people have been
invited into and we’re now engaging in a
conversation about how do we achieve
reconciliation between indigenous people
in Canada now we know through the
history of residential schools that the
impact on indigenous languages are has
been severe and it has been as a direct
result of the policies of the
residential school era my own
grandmother went to residential school
for ten years and she spoke our language
before she had gone when she was taken
at seven years old but when she had
graduated in 1950 1947 she couldn’t
speak her language and the reason for
this was during the years that she was
in that residential school in North
Vancouver at st. Paul’s she was met with
violence and physical abuse and an
outright policy against the use of her
language in the school it was a policy
of extermination of our cultural unity
but also our language now I think about
that and I think about that policy and
if reconciliation is about repairing the
relationship between indigenous people
and Canadians and Canadian society what
would it look like to have that policy
of the residential school in Reverse
what would it look like if there was a
policy and a law that said that
indigenous people had the right to have
their children educated in their
indigenous language and it’s the
interesting thing is the reason I have
that idea is not because it came out of
somewhere else that’s because that idea
actually comes from Canada in Canada if
you are an English or French speaker you
have the right to have your children
educated in your language that is not a
right that is extended to indigenous
languages yet and so my invitation to
people is that I think Canada would be a
more interesting place
if indigenous languages were thriving
and they can because as we see right now
everywhere across Canada indigenous
people young people are learning their
language and trying to maintain it and
to keep it going
and that’s despite any major support
from government or from the rest of the
Canadian Society now I think that there
is a possibility that our communities if
they wanted could make indigenous
languages accessible and available in
our public schools and our schools
around the province around the country
with the support of indigenous
communities that want to gift our
indigenous languages to Canadians as a
example of a meaningful reconciliation
between our communities and I think that
as I said before I think Canada would be
a far more interesting place when you
travel around the world and you go to
different communities around the world
one of the things that is very apparent
is that when he travel places the
language of that community language of
the people the language of that country
really informs the culture the identity
and the community of that place and
there are 60 indigenous languages in
Canada most of them are NBC and many of
them are in a state of decline and many
of them are starting to come back with
young people learning the language so
we’re at this dichotomy where some are
declining and some are coming back but I
think that if we were to extend those
types of language rights to indigenous
language speakers and make that right
extend it to all Canadians so that if it
was available in your school that it
would be a gift to everybody to come and
learn the indigenous language of the
territory on which those children are
being raised
and I think that’s actually a really
fundamental shift in the consciousness
of our identity the way that many years
ago there was a shift in consciousness
around the identity between English and
French culture with that makes up Canada
and I think it’s time now as we enter
into the 21st century that there is a
possibility that we can add and really
elevate the value of indigenous cultures
in in languages but that that is
something that going forward becomes a
part of us as the way that French and
English has in the past and I think that
there is a way to do it there is a lot
of successful models around how to
revitalize indigenous languages and that
this should be led by indigenous
communities who are doing the work but
there is something really beautiful
about hearing the languages of the lands
that we come from and I think that for
all of the work that is happening to
repair this relationship from doing
territorial acknowledgement at the
beginning of school assemblies to having
land markers placed on our territory
again like carvings and welcome figures
but I think the next step in that
relationship building that step that we
take together is actually going to be
about families and communities
supporting the revitalization of a
digital anguishes so that that becomes
something that we all share in as we
understand our place in the world and
our place in our community as there’s
new relationship that we’re forming
together and I think that that’s what
will happen if we all believe that
Canada would be a far more interesting
place with thriving indigenous languages
so thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
tannoy up an equate doll neshty ends
call Salem tonight some photos caught
much off aqua mail I just introduced
myself my name is call Salem which is a
Coast Salish name I was given by my
grandmother many years ago in a
traditional Coast sailor ceremony and
I’ve gone by this name ever since
whereas before I went by my English name
or what I sometimes call my government
name I don’t identify myself with that
name anymore because I made a commitment
a personal commitment for myself that as
somebody who was learning my language my
indigenous language and as somebody who
wanted to promote and strengthen the
connection to my indigenous language I
thought why not identify myself and go
into the world with my indigenous name
that comes from my indigenous language
and so I’ve done that ever since and
part of living by this name this
indigenous name that comes from this
territory that I grew up in is that it
invites me to engage people all the time
in a practice of humility and patience
which are both very useful values to
have when you’re a language teacher
which I have been for the last few years
because every time I meet somebody it’s
constantly a reminder a practice of how
I can be generous and kind and and with
with teaching people how to pronounce my
name and so many people are very very
self-conscious about whether they’re
gonna say my name correctly or wrongly
and all that kind of stuff but when
you’re learning a language it’s really
important to make mistakes and it’s
really important that you learn to make
mistakes and that making mistakes is a
good thing to do so one of my dreams
over the last few years has been to see
the return of my peoples language the
Squamish language is one of the most
endangered languages in British Columbia
the first peoples Cultural Council in
2014 released a report on the status of
BC First Nations languages and out of
the the many languages that exist in BC
Squamish was in the top three what that
meant was we only have a handful of
speakers who are over the age of 75 most
of them are elderly and it’s something
that if we don’t do something drastic in
our lifetime we’re gonna see the decline
and eventually extinction of our
language
however the story is actually not one of
a dying language the census that has
just come out from Canada is showing
that indigenous language speakers across
the country is going up the first
people’s cultural council report in 2014
showed that the number of language
learners is going up and so the myth of
dying indigenous language is actually
not true young people like myself are
committing themselves to becoming
speakers of our indigenous languages and
this is despite any major program being
done by Canada to support indigenous
languages just in the last few years the
Government of Canada only funded
languages at a pro five million a year
compared to English and French which
received close to a billion dollars a
year in government funding so one of the
things that I’m on a mission to share
with the rest of the world and with
Canadians is that I think indigenous
languages would make Canada a far more
indigenous indigenous place and I think
it would make Canada a far more
interesting place that Canada has as
rich history that it is now part of it
that we as indigenous people have been
invited into and we’re now engaging in a
conversation about how do we achieve
reconciliation between indigenous people
in Canada now we know through the
history of residential schools that the
impact on indigenous languages are has
been severe and it has been as a direct
result of the policies of the
residential school era my own
grandmother went to residential school
for ten years and she spoke our language
before she had gone when she was taken
at seven years old but when she had
graduated in 1950 1947 she couldn’t
speak her language and the reason for
this was during the years that she was
in that residential school in North
Vancouver at st. Paul’s she was met with
violence and physical abuse and an
outright policy against the use of her
language in the school it was a policy
of extermination of our cultural unity
but also our language now I think about
that and I think about that policy and
if reconciliation is about repairing the
relationship between indigenous people
and Canadians and Canadian society what
would it look like to have that policy
of the residential school in Reverse
what would it look like if there was a
policy and a law that said that
indigenous people had the right to have
their children educated in their
indigenous language and it’s the
interesting thing is the reason I have
that idea is not because it came out of
somewhere else that’s because that idea
actually comes from Canada in Canada if
you are an English or French speaker you
have the right to have your children
educated in your language that is not a
right that is extended to indigenous
languages yet and so my invitation to
people is that I think Canada would be a
more interesting place
if indigenous languages were thriving
and they can because as we see right now
everywhere across Canada indigenous
people young people are learning their
language and trying to maintain it and
to keep it going
and that’s despite any major support
from government or from the rest of the
Canadian Society now I think that there
is a possibility that our communities if
they wanted could make indigenous
languages accessible and available in
our public schools and our schools
around the province around the country
with the support of indigenous
communities that want to gift our
indigenous languages to Canadians as a
example of a meaningful reconciliation
between our communities and I think that
as I said before I think Canada would be
a far more interesting place when you
travel around the world and you go to
different communities around the world
one of the things that is very apparent
is that when he travel places the
language of that community language of
the people the language of that country
really informs the culture the identity
and the community of that place and
there are 60 indigenous languages in
Canada most of them are NBC and many of
them are in a state of decline and many
of them are starting to come back with
young people learning the language so
we’re at this dichotomy where some are
declining and some are coming back but I
think that if we were to extend those
types of language rights to indigenous
language speakers and make that right
extend it to all Canadians so that if it
was available in your school that it
would be a gift to everybody to come and
learn the indigenous language of the
territory on which those children are
being raised
and I think that’s actually a really
fundamental shift in the consciousness
of our identity the way that many years
ago there was a shift in consciousness
around the identity between English and
French culture with that makes up Canada
and I think it’s time now as we enter
into the 21st century that there is a
possibility that we can add and really
elevate the value of indigenous cultures
in in languages but that that is
something that going forward becomes a
part of us as the way that French and
English has in the past and I think that
there is a way to do it there is a lot
of successful models around how to
revitalize indigenous languages and that
this should be led by indigenous
communities who are doing the work but
there is something really beautiful
about hearing the languages of the lands
that we come from and I think that for
all of the work that is happening to
repair this relationship from doing
territorial acknowledgement at the
beginning of school assemblies to having
land markers placed on our territory
again like carvings and welcome figures
but I think the next step in that
relationship building that step that we
take together is actually going to be
about families and communities
supporting the revitalization of a
digital anguishes so that that becomes
something that we all share in as we
understand our place in the world and
our place in our community as there’s
new relationship that we’re forming
together and I think that that’s what
will happen if we all believe that
Canada would be a far more interesting
place with thriving indigenous languages
so thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
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