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“Tsa Tsa Ke K’e.”

Lynda Minoose, the Dënesųłiné language and culture director for the Cold Lake First Nations, enunciates the phrase in the rich cadences of Dënesųłiné, the language of the Dene people.

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I like to flatter myself that I have a pretty good ear for languages, but my lazy anglophone tongue and throat can’t mimic Minoose. Her peal of laughter bursts down the phone as I accidentally give the second “K” a sort of Yiddish guttural sound. No, no, she explains. The “K” followed by an apostrophe has a hard quick sharp sound, like the noise you make when you click your tongue to encourage a horse. The final “e” has a very nasal pronunciation. I try again, and provoke a few more giggles.

Luckily, the English translation of the phrase — Iron Foot Place — flows more easily. (Minoose says the more literal translation would be Metal Shoe House — but Iron Foot Place has a more martial ring.)

No matter how you pronounce it, though, Tsa Tsa Ke K’e, or Iron Foot Place, is the name of the magnificent flowing mosaic by Cold Lake First Nations artist Alex Janvier, at the centre of Edmonton’s new Winter Garden arena pedway. The bright round mosaic, with its invocation of traditional indigenous imagery and its salute to Edmonton’s river valley colour palette, is the visual glory of the new arena complex. It’s like a rose window in a Gothic cathedral, except that you can get up close and touch it, and can walk around inside it. And you won’t need a ticket to see it. Once the public pedways open later this month, anybody will be able to enjoy it.