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Norine Buffalo discusses elements of the Indigenous Languages Education program that includes languages, pedagogy, assessment at Alberta

Image courtesy of interviewee. March 20, 2024

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The speaker discusses the importance of indigenous language revitalization, particularly in the context of Cree culture and identity. They emphasize that language and culture are intertwined and essential for individual and community identity. The speaker shares their personal experience of learning the Cree language at home, despite attending a day school where the language was not spoken. They highlight the historical impact of residential schools and governmental policies aimed at assimilating Indigenous peoples, which attempted to erase indigenous identities and languages. The speaker stresses the need for communities to reclaim and teach their languages, especially to younger generations, in order to preserve culture and identity. They also point out that language education should be culturally appropriate and delivered by those who are genuinely knowledgeable about the culture, warning against cultural appropriation. The speaker calls for an education system that respects and incorporates indigenous perspectives, instead of imposing standardized, western methodologies. They conclude by reaffirming the vital connection between language and cultural identity, advocating for a future where indigenous knowledge and languages are celebrated and preserved.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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From my perspective and the way I've grown up,

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indigenous language,

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education is a revitalization process in which, many

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of our communities are in, reclaiming our languages

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because of, the Indian residential schools.

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And what has happened back then,

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the process in reclaiming our language is, is very important

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because educational language is different

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for many different, people.

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And for us in like in Musci, we're ak we're,

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we're CRE people and our language is cre

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and those are English terms.

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The, the terminology we prefer to use is

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for CRE people and AWA one for CRE language

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because those are not really translatable,

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but those are the English terms that have been used.

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So for this purpose, I'll be using Cree language

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and Cree, knowledge using that, those English terms.

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Language is a central component

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because you cannot have identity without language.

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For us in Musca cheese, our language

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and our culture are intertwined.

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And many of us have been fortunate enough to reconnect

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after going through residential school or day school.

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Like for me, I was a day scholar

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and I never heard the language when I was going to school,

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but I heard it at home.

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I was fortunate, like I'm one, a fortunate ones

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to have had my grandparents who were fluent speakers

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of the language and never spoke English.

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So I learned the language.

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And for me, being as young as I was,

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because I was living in two worlds, I was able

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to understand everything they told me in cre

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not being a fluent speaker.

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But I understood it. And as I grew older

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is when I started to use the language.

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And to me that taught me that those two are intertwined.

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You cannot have one without the other

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because when you go to our ceremonies, they're conducted in

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awa when, and English language is

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a language that's a board language that's not ours.

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So the language used in the ceremony are so sacred

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that that's what creates the identity piece

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is those two components together in making our identity,

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what what it is, language and culture.

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'cause you can't have a, a ceremony without the language

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because it doesn't have in that

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spiritual meaning if you don't have the language in the,

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ceremony.

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So that's, for me, the important aspect

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of this is having the language

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and the spiritual aspect of

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that language within the ceremony.

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It's been happening for over 500 years,

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but the major impact has been in the 18 hundreds

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with the introduction of the Indian residential schools

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and the Indian policy that the government came up with

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with, kill the Indian and the child.

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That was the education policy back then.

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Because they didn't want us living the,

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our ancestors living the way they did

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because they wanted us to be civilized.

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We were not considered people.

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So we were savages in their, in their eyes.

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And the way we lived was peace and harmony with nature.

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And they didn't want us do that because of the resources

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and everything that they wanted to take from nature.

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That's why those policies were put into place

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to segregate us from Canadian,

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people and first nations people.

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We were put on reserves land set aside

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for First Nations peoples.

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But even in those cases, many of the reserves were

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taken away and split apart.

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And what we're left with is, is the little pieces

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that we live, we live on, that's

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what you call reserves now is s lift over land.

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And even now those are what they wanna take from us.

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So they're coming up with new policies.

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And so we have to remember

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that our treaties are international treaties.

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They're not a national treaty.

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And with all the politics that goes on,

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they're making changes to suit them.

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And so we're slowly catching up and they're afraid of that.

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So they're always coming up with new policies to ensure

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that we have to follow their, their policies.

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But as in many indigenous people are becoming,

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sovereign, they, they're afraid that we'll all be in that,

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in that same boat.

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And they have to recognize our treaties.

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So they don't want us to be in that same boat with others

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recognizing who they are because we determine

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what happens on our lands.

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So that's one of the things that has happened is ensuring

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that all these policies do away with a lot of what we have.

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Communities need to speak the language.

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They know what little they know

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and seeking, other knowledge keepers or elders

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and ensuring that those practices are brought into the

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schools to be taught to the children as young as three.

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Because every little piece of language

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that they learn, they retain.

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And if it's not utilized, they lose it.

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And so it's always important that all of these be taught

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properly by everybody that's involved in that child's life.

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And for many of our people,

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colonization has had a big impact where

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they wanna live in a society that's rich in

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financially, but they forget who they are and they get lost.

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And so we have the problem that we have because of that.

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And we need to ensure that our future generations know

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where they come from, know our history, our perspective,

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not western education, but our perspective.

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And that's the importance in developing a lot of the

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curriculum that we do in use in our schools.

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And right now it's very important

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because in many communities we have

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limited number of speakers

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and our elders are, are passing on that

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that knowledge is being taken.

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And so we have to ensure that all of

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that know language knowledge is brought into the schools.

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And in some cases that's

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where it end ends up being in the school first

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because the people who know some

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of the language are teaching it,

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whereas many are not using it at home.

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And that's where we need to have more community

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engagements in letting the language.

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And in years past that was something that was done

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where we were re we've been revitalizing the

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language so many years.

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We have programs that go that don't succeed for long

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because other people are wanting to

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continue living in western society, that they kind

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of push back some of our language and cultural practices.

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And now they're realizing the importance of it

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because our students in some of our schools in quiche,

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they're learning the language

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and they're teaching the parents.

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So that's important concept that I've gotten from

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the language and working

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with it all these years is we have no choice

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but to do it in the school setting as well.

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And first and foremost, it most,

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in most families it is in the schools.

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And there's some families who are fortunate to be learning

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it at home from their parents and their grandparents

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and the extended family.

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We have some strong families that way.

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And that's what something we all need

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to work towards with Alberta.

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The language is that they have curriculum for

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and the pedagogy

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and the assessment, they're all,

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they all come from the western education perspective in

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standardizing the language.

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And that's not how the language is learned.

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The language is learned fluently

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and orally with people together

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and not, we don't teach our language,

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on a paper and a pencil, how it's done in the schools

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And Alberta education, they've done,

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they've done it so that they standardize it.

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Every language I've looked at,

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they follow the same curriculum and the same outline.

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And it's assessing those languages in

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that way is a lot of work and it doesn't need to be.

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And so I can understand why a lot of people don't like

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to teach the language in the schools,

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looking at the language

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that is being taught in the curriculum.

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It's so vast. And also we have to be careful with

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cultural appropriation just

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because something is taught to somebody

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that doesn't give them the right to go and teach it.

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And that's a lot of what I've seen, in the

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Alberta curriculum that a lot of people think it's okay,

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okay, I learned a little of this, I have the right to do it.

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And you don't when you're born with it, you have that right

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to teach it and pass it on.

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But somebody coming in saying, I've learned this

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and I've learned that and I'm gonna do this

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and I'm gonna do that, that's not okay.

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That a culture, that cultural appropriation is something

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that needs to be looked at.

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And it's, it happens a lot where many,

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like even on Facebook, you see all these people who are all

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of all of us, all of a sudden shamans

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and we don't use those words like that shaman.

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They're cultural people who are humble enough

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and they won't say nothing.

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But as for me, somebody identifying with who I am,

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there's times I get, insulted by some of the things

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that I see on Facebook and that

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because that's cultural appropriation,

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it should be taught by people who know it.

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'cause I wouldn't go teach a French language saying I'm a

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expert just

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'cause I learned a little, no, I wouldn't do that.

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I'd have to be fluent in it, understand the culture,

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but I wouldn't call myself a French person enabled,

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giving, giving the people what they want, right?

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Because I'm just learning a language.

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But I wouldn't say I'm a, I'm good at it

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and that I can do this and that

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because there's more to the French than what we see, right?

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Their culture is different from ours,

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whereas my culture is different from others.

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And I would be insulted with somebody trying to teach my,

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my culture, who has no idea

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who hasn't been on our nation to say that they know.

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So for me it's always those, the pedagogy behind it is

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ours is a spiritual, it's a spiritual being.

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And people don't look at at that aspect.

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They think they can write it all down and it's okay.

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And it's not. That comes back to too much of

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that is happening where people think they have the right

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to teach culture.

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Like, there's certain steps that you have to go through

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to gain this knowledge.

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And first and foremost, you need to be born into

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that culture because when you're born into the culture,

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you understand the culture

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and you're able to pass on that knowledge

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to others within the community.

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And that, that's why a lot of communities are strong

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that they're able to do that.

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And whereas us, we're fortunate, the

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cultural aspect of it has finally been, the door has kind

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of, kind of been opening up where people are sharing

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what they know and we're building a stronger culture.

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And that's the most important thing in,

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cultural education is having the people who know

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to pass it on to our future generations and not for use it

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and not to use it for cultural appropriation or gain

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because it's not, it's not right that it's, it's being done.

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And many times we see that.

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And for me it's important that culture

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and language are always together

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because they're intertwined.

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And if you understand

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that they're using the language more often

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and you can hear the pride when they introduce themselves.

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So that's, I love that.

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