Prepared by Loretta Robinson, Marianna Chescappio, and Shannon Uniam

Prepared for the Naskapi Nation and Heritage Canada

Objectives

  • To help community leaders identify and prioritize policies and initiatives that will improve the level of support in the community for the preservation of the Naskapi language
  • To assess, as a community, the current state of the Naskapi language (where, how, and by whom it is used, the direction it is going in, etc).
  • To set goals and act for the preservation of the Naskapi language as a community

Message from Committee Members

We, the Naskapi, want to take it upon ourselves, as a whole community, to ensure that our children speak our Naskapi language—bringing the priorities to our oral component as a way for our children to learn the Naskapi way of being, doing, and seeing.

As language keepers and advocates of our community, we are called to pay close attention and check in on our efforts. With the community’s input, we felt the need to create a Naskapi Language Plan. We are ready to bring together all community language programs, organizations, and language advocates to develop a five-year plan for language.

Every consultation will be done only with Naskapi first in mind. This means that language will be discussed in the community and on the Land. The Naskapi Language Committee will lead conversations with community members all in Naskapi. Elders will be asked to share their vision of language and its importance.

This will direct and guide all organizations to prioritize our Naskapi language within our organizations, our homes, and, most importantly, our children. It is time to provide a space for us to celebrate, re-evaluate, and strengthen all our efforts, as well as foster an increase in collaboration between all our growing programs that involve the Naskapi language and, most importantly, those of the home where language begins.

Everyone has a key role to play, and each person is very important to this process. This will also raise community awareness of all existing programming.

5 years in 5 Phases

  • Phase 1: Create – Establish Committee
  • Phase 2: Consult – Consult community
  • Phase 3: Capture – Draft a report and Language Plan for the community
  • Phase 4: Commit – Implement 5-Year Language Plan
  • Phase 5: Celebrate together

Agenda for 2 Days

Sichuun provided technical support for the two days. We made the events live-stream.

Elder’s Event

Community’s Event

Quotes from the Community

“Our language is alive, not dying”

“We use every opportunity to teach our children our language”

“We all have to take care of our children, Every Child Matters”

“Let’s all greet each other in Naskapi”

“Make our homes a place where only Naskapi is used and heard”

“Our ancestors worked hard to bring us here, we got to do better and work harder”

Ideas for Language

  • Naskapi Language Classes for all adults
  • Offer Naskapi teachings for the community (doing the teaching, the words with the teachings, Naskapi values with the teachings.
  • Have Naskapi Immersion language camps for parents and children (mother & daughter, father and son)
  • Have a dictionary for our language for everyone.
  • Have 10-15 minute storytelling video sessions with speakers (Radio, Facebook, Sachiuun Channel, YouTube)
  • Language and culture immersion camps: opportunities for families, Elders, parents, youth and children to be immersed in the language through traditional cultural activities
  • Weekly tea nights: hold a tea night once a week and make it a Naskapi-only talking environment
  • Have audio/video recordings: songs, stories, conversations, cooking, and teachings in Naskapi (Radio, Facebook, Sachiuun Channel, YouTube)
  • Offer seasonal workshops to the community on Naskapi teachings: tools, medicines, cooking, animals, etc.

Future Outlook

As we move forward, the Naskapi Language Committee plans to:

  • With the Appreciative Inquiry Model, the ideas shared during the gatherings and survey will be used to draft the Naskapi Language Preservation plan for the next 5 years.
  • Other community members and Elders will be consulted, and their input will be asked for moving forward to strengthen our Naskapi Language.
  • Online survey links will be shared with the community.
  • The Naskapi Language Preservation plan will be shared to different organizations in Kawawachikamach and asked for commitment toward community goals on language.
  • Create a Naskapi Language Visual, hire a community artist to design a model, and have a graphic designer make it electronic.

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