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Editor’s note: The Mi’kmaq headline translates to 'Let us continue to speak Mi'kmaq,' quoted from Alexander Denny, the former Kji-keptin (Grand Captain) of the Sante' Mawiomi, Grand Council and traditional governance body of the Mi'kmaw Nation

ESKASONI, N.S. - When Katani Julian was asked to translate the lyrics of the Beatles hit “Blackbird” into Mi’kmaq by music teacher Carter Chiasson, she knew exactly who to turn to for help.

She took the words to her dad, Albert (Golydada) Julian (Albert Golydada means "Albert the Father" in Mi’kmaq).

“I just went over to ask him if it’s translatable and within two hours, we had the translation,” Katani said. It took a few more days to perfect the lyrics.

Katani Julian and her father, Albert (Golydada) Julian of Eskasoni translated “Blackbird” by The Beatles into Mi’kmaq within a couple of hours. - Katani Julian

Albert thought it was just another translation project for a class at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni. But it was for a video cover sung in Mi’kmaq by Emma Stevens and produced by students at the school that went viral on YouTube. Since it launched in late April, it’s had over one million views and has even drawn praise from Paul McCartney himself. The song’s reach resulted in Stevens and Chiasson meeting McCartney at a concert in Vancouver.

“We’ve had some traction with our previous stuff and I figured that it would get some attention and maybe it would be big in the Mi’kmaq universe but I never thought it would be what it is,” said Chiasson. “I never thought that Paul McCartney would hear me play the guitar and hear Emma sing. That’s surreal for me. He’s my biggest musical influence by far. That’s extremely cool.”

Chiasson is a music teacher at the Eskasoni high school but also has a background in music production — songwriting, playing in bands and recording music — and brings that to his teaching. The last few years, he and his students have been writing original music and making music videos, even doing projects with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Something different

This year, due to time constraints, instead of doing an original song they decided to cover the iconic Beatles tune for an event in the fall. Also, Allison Bernard Memorial High School recently became a United Nations affiliated school. The UN has declared 2019 the international year of Indigenous languages, an observance “that aims to raise awareness of the consequences of the endangerment of Indigenous languages across the world, with an aim to establish a link between language, development, peace, and reconciliation.”

The teacher/student duo of Chiasson and Stevens has performed in Nairobi, Kenya, at a United Nations event, in Ottawa at the Canadian Museum of History, the National Arts Centre and the Indigenous Experience Summer Solstice Festival, for Margaret Atwood during her visit at Cape Breton University and with Jimmy Rankin at a recent corporate event in Sydney, among other performances.

Katani Julian and Carter Chiasson are shown in the music room at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni. Julian and her father Albert translated the iconic Beatles hit song “Blackbird” for Chiasson, a music teacher, into Mi’kmaq. The cover, sung by student Emma Stevens, went viral on YouTube. - TJ Colello

But why choose “Blackbird” to cover in Mi’kmaq?

“‘Take your broken wings and learn to fly’ — it was like an empowerment song for black women in the 1960s,” said Chiasson. “People are calling Emma 'Blackbird for Indigenous girls' and I definitely see that parallel. Indigenous women in Canada are definitely at a disadvantage to white young girls. It’s unfortunate. Since the 1970s, there’s been 4,000 young Indigenous girls who have gone missing or murdered in Canada. If you’re born Indigenous and female in Canada today, the odds are stacked against you.”

Unprecedented exposure

Katani says the video has created unprecedented exposure for both the preservation of Mi’kmaq language and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

“The fact that this extraordinary song has been translated into Mi’kmaq is wonderful in and of itself,” she said. “For our community, our school, a teacher here and a student here to get that kind of attention is just wonderful. It’s a wonderful surprise and a delightful surprise of this project.

“But, inevitably, it brings attention to our language and it has multiple layers of meaning for different people. For many, it brings exposure to language of a people that have suffered greatly in history and continue to suffer in the present day. If it brings that much attention and if it brings more focus and more attention on to the missing and murdered Indigenous women in this country, then that’s another level of success that this song has helped achieve.”

But “Blackbird” isn’t their first foray into highlighting the importance of preserving Mi’kmaq language. Chiasson and his students also wrote a song and video about the issue called “Gentle Warrior” as a tribute to Rita Joe’s poem “I lost my talk.” The poem is a call to action for First Nations people across Canada to revitalize their language.

It starts with youth

Not far down the road from the high school is the Eskasoni Immersion School (Essissoqnwey Siawa'sik-l'nuey Kina'matinewo'kuo'm in Mi’kmaq). The school had 132 kids this past school year and another 26 will start in September, with 17 moving on. It’s their fourth year as a full immersion school.

Everyone speaks Mi’kmaq: teachers, janitors, bus drivers and the school’s staff.

“When they’re in the classroom, they use their Mi’kmaq, but once they leave the classroom, they’re back to speaking English. Even in the playground, we try to tell them we’re trying to learn Mi’kmaq here,” said principal Ida Denny. They also send Mi’kmaq language programs home for the students.

Student Allysen Francis of Eskasoni has also earned a reputation as a singer. Her mother, Cornelia, translated the Creedence Clearwater Revival tune “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” into Mi’kmaq and the nine-year-old has sung the translated version at a number of events.

Ida Denny, left, is the principal at the Eskasoni Immersion School (Essissoqnwey Siawa'sik-l'nuey Kina'matinewo'kuo'm) and 9-year-old Allysen Francis, right, is one of the school's students. - TJ Colello

Allysen’s mother is a teacher at the school and, as a result, her daughter has a strong background in the language at home.

“It’s fun because I can speak Mi’kmaq in front of other people so they can understand it too,” said the Grade 4 student who started at the immersion school in Primary.

Denny said, in a community like Eskasoni, where the language is still alive, it’s very important to start with youth.

“Younger parents I’ve noticed, even though they’re speakers themselves, they speak to their children in English and we’re trying to turn that around,” she said. “That’s the mission for Eskasoni and something I’d like to see. The younger parents switch over and speak more Mi’kmaq and speak to them in Mi’kmaq.

“It’s amazing what they learn here when they leave Grade 4. They’re more proud of their culture, where they weren’t even proud before. They don’t realize what they’re in when they come in in kindergarten. I wish we had it when I was small or even my own children.”

Mi'kmaq on the airwaves

Anne Marie Marchand is a Mi’kmaq language specialist and a former Mi’kmaq teacher. She’s now the cultural co-ordinator with the Potlotek Education Office.

But you can also add radio program host and television writer to her extensive résumé.

She’s worked for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), translating the children’s program “Teepee Time” into Mi’kmaq. Her home community of Potlotek also has a radio station, Mniku Radio 93.7 FM, which features the Mi’kmaq word of the day, phrase of the day and tries to promote as much of the language as possible during its broadcast schedule.

“It’s Indigenous music we play and it’s a little talk show kind of thing. That’s an advantage that we have now,” said Marchand. “They teach Mi’kmaq in universities, almost in every school — they’re starting to incorporate Mi’kmaq language to allow in provincial schools, non-Indigenous schools for Indigenous children that are in that school.

“There’s a challenge, but there’s something else that comes along that tries to change it as much as possible.”

Marchand said a challenge of keeping the Mi’kmaq language alive and well — and something she admits she’s guilty of at times — is accommodating the English language.

“I think it’s because of the colonialism and what was set out to be done, to take the Indian away from the child during the residential school era,” she said. “When I’m dead and gone, I’m going to come back and I’m going to come back with all these wonderful warriors who died for their people — Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull — and I’m going to bring them back with me and I’m going to make sure we fight and continue to fight.”

As for the future, she believes more Mi’kmaq immersion schools in First Nations communities is vital.

“There’s only one immersion school in Nova Scotia and I don’t know what it would take for us to have an immersion school and I don’t know what we’re waiting for, but I’m hoping soon that it’s going to happen. That’s my dream anyway,” she said. “That’s what I want to see before I leave this planet, it’s to know that my great-grandchildren and my little grandchild will have that opportunity to speak Mi’kmaq and be spoken to in Mi’kmaq by her peers.”

Anne Marie Marchand is a Mi’kmaq language specialist and a former Mi’kmaq teacher. She’s now the cultural co-ordinator with the Potlotek Education Office. - TJ Colello

Language beyond Unama'ki

When speaking with Dr. Stephanie Inglis, it’s not hard to tell she has a passion for linguistics.

She’s a professor of Mi’kmaq Studies, Department of Indigenous Studies and also the director of the Mi’kmaq Language Lab (Kji-keptin Alexander Denny L’nui’sultimkeweyo’kuom) at Cape Breton University’s Unama’ki College. The lab is the epicentre of research for the Mi’kmaq language and partners with Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey in Membertou, the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and the Nova Scotia Department of Education.

Along with researching how the language works, the lab also hosts students from other universities who study Mi’kmaq. It also organizes and develops curriculum for the Mi’kmaq language courses taught at CBU. Courses are even taught to students at other universities via video conferencing and will feature online courses in the future.

“Part of the Truth and Reconciliation (Commission of Canada), one of the article’s suggestions is that universities have to start teaching Indigenous language,” said Inglis. “Since Cape Breton University is the centre academically for Mi’kmaq language research and teaching, we’re now making our courses available to other universities.”

The Mi’kmaq language belongs to the eastern Algonquin family of languages and is spoken by about 11,000 people in Canada and the United States, according to Statistics Canada. Originally, that group included 18 different languages but only Mi’kmaq, Malecite and Passamaquoddy remain.

Dr. Stephanie Inglis is a professor of Mi’kmaq studies with the Department of Indigenous Studies and also the director of the Mi’kmaq Language Lab (Kji-keptin Alexander Denny L’nui’sultimkeweyo’kuom) at Cape Breton University’s Unama’ki College. Cape Breton University is the academic centre for Mi’kmaq language research and teaching. TJ Colello

Distinctive structure

Inglis explains that Mi’kmaq has a very distinctive structure. Where English has multiple words in a sentence, Mi’kmaq has one word with four or five parts within that one word to make up a sentence.

And although there are speakers, what’s worrisome is that the small, extra details that make up a word for a sentence used by elder speakers is being lost. Also, English words are creeping into the language and causing problems because of their very different structures.

“It’s the detailed words that this generation doesn’t have and unless that’s given to them now, that’s gone. This is the last kick at the can,” said Inglis.

Inglis said the main goal is to bring speakers to the level of articulation of Mi’kmaq elders. An advanced course will be taught in the fall by Ernest Johnson that aims to help reach that goal.

But beyond that, the college plans on creating teams of senior students who are good speakers to deliver professional development training to non-Indigenous professionals like lawyers and health-care professionals. It will help grow the language while also giving the senior students some valuable teaching experience.

Mi’kmaq is one of 87 languages in Canada on UNESCO’s list of languages in danger. Most of those languages are Indigenous. But Inglis says she’s noticed a surge of interest over the past few years.

“I’ve been teaching there for over 28 years and Mi’kmaq students might want to take the language (courses), maybe not,” she said. “Now, there’s just a passion and a sense of urgency because the thing about Indigenous languages of North America, most of the details of language are still held orally by the oldest generation of the holders of that language.

“With each elder that passes, everyone is fully aware that you’ve lost a loved one, but you’ve also lost a knowledge holder and unless that knowledge has been passed verbally and taught and learned and practised in terms of language to the next generation, that’s the only way you’re going to learn.”

Inglis believes that the Mi’kmaq do have advantages when it comes to keeping their language alive: their community leadership and the fact that Mi’kmaq is the only Indigenous language in the region, unlike other areas of the country where multiple dialects overlap.

“You can put all of your energies in one language. That’s a huge benefit.”

tj.colello@cbpost.com

On Twitter: @CBPost_TJ

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