An Inupiaq speaker was told to speak in English only during a meeting of the signatories of the Stockholm Convention in Geneva, Switzerland on May 2.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a treaty addressing the impacts of chemical pollutants on the health and wellbeing of both people and the environment. It's tied to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Siqiniq Maupin, who is Inupiaq from Utqiaġvik with family ties to Nuiqsut, was at the conference by invitation of Alaska Community Actions on Toxics (ACAT). While she was born on the Slope, she currently lives in Fairbanks. Along with ACAT, the Native Village of Nuiqsut invited the nonprofit group Native Movement to the community to do air quality testing and youth organizing, which was their focus at the conference, as well. Both groups attended the convention in Geneva.

As Maupin was introducing herself in Inupiatun during a group discussion, an organizer interrupted her and requested she speak in English. They explained it was supposed to be an English-only meeting. The person who asked her to speak English could not be immediately contacted by deadline.

"I was honestly so shocked because our introductions are so sacred in every space I enter," Maupin wrote on Facebook, discussing the incident.

To the group, Maupin said her introduction would brief and that she would follow up with an English translation. But she was still asked to speak only in English.

"I honestly wasn't sure how to respond because I'd never had that happen to me," said Maupin in an interview on Tuesday. "Then, I did another intervention and said I was shocked at the treatment and there should be immediate consultation about the situation and they were quiet and did not respond and went on as if I didn't speak. I felt invisible, or worse, like a second class citizen."

The forced usage of the English language (and other non-indigenous languages) has long been a tool of colonization. Alaska, itself, has a fraught history of linguistic colonialism and many Alaska Native residents have memories and stories of being forced to speak English only and being punished for speaking their Native language.

"So, I left the room shaking and not knowing why I was feeling so horrible, but it felt like every time my mother, grandmother and Indigenous person was told (not to) or hit or punished for speaking (their language) was still happening," she said.

In her written post, Maupin said she had forgotten what everyday life must have been like for her ancestors.

After the unsettling encounter, Maupin said she was given an apology in front of the contact group for the Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) ban discussions. In a May 6 release on the encounter, Native Movement described the apology by organizers as saying they were "sorry we hurt your feelings."

The Sounder could not immediately confirm the exact wording of the apology and may update this story once video of the apology has been reviewed.

"The injustices presented at a gathering of nations was a fraction of the discrimination met by Indigenous peoples around the world, yet it is still unacceptable," wrote Native Movement. "We stand in solidarity with Maupin and all Indigenous people and hold the U.N. accountable for their actions. Language justice is a human right."

Language justice and preservation is meant to be a central focus for the United Nations in 2019. Last year, the United Nations announced 2019 would be formally recognized as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The five fundamental ideas behind the year, as outlined by the U.N. on the official web page, include knowledge, peace, inclusion, diversity and rights—defined as the "fundamental human rights and freedoms for indigenous peoples."

For Maupin, she said speaking her Native language is something she should never need permission to do; it is her right.

"I will never be silenced," Maupin wrote. "I will never allow another person to allow me to speak the language of my people. We have endured enough; this is a time to rise and take back what has always been ours."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add that Maupin currently lives in Fairbanks.