Yellowknife students assemble to cap off Indigenous Languages Month

More than 300 students gathered at Yellowknife’s École William McDonald Middle School in recognition of Indigenous Languages Month on Thursday.

Indigenous language instructor Madelaine Pasquayak spends time with students once a week to teach them the Dene language and beading.

Pasquayak began working at the school last year and has been a language teacher in Yellowknife for more than a decade.

“It’s very important that we teach the young people to speak the language because it’s been said that our language is slowly disappearing,” she said.

Taylor Saracuse, a Grade 7 teacher at the school, said throughout February a weekly language challenge helped students learn simple words and phrases in Tłı̨chǫ.

Saracuse said if a student spoke any Indigenous language from around the world, their name was put on what’s called “nezį notes” – nezį meaning “good” in Tłı̨chǫ. Students could then enter a weekly draw to win prizes from local businesses like Mahsicho, Erasmus Apparel and ArTech Engrave.

On Thursday, one student even won a dog-sledding trip for the class.

“A little over 20 percent of the population in the school identifies as Indigenous. As far as how many people would speak it fluently, it is probably still a fairly small number,” Saracuse said.

“One of the big points of highlighting Indigenous Languages Month is to help with Indigenous language regeneration. But it’s still in many ways in its infancy, this initiative.”

Kate Powless, a program support teacher at the school, said each school chooses to celebrate and commemorate the month in its own way. At École William McDonald Middle School, students also played bingo with Dene words.

“The kids are exposed to Indigenous culture all throughout. It is woven into the school as a whole,” she said.

Neco Towtongie, a student at the school, speaks a little bit of Inuktitut and has begun learning Dene since he moved back to Yellowknife from Nunavut in December.

Towtongie wants to continue learning Inuktitut and stay connected to his culture. While he is in the city, he said, he plans to ask his father to help him learn it.

“In Rankin, I learnt a lot of Indigenous stories and a lot of words that I didn’t usually know and it’s been pretty good,” he said.

“I feel it’s good that everyone came here to recognize the Indigenous Languages Month.”

A drum dance song

Activities take place across the Northwest Territories each February to celebrate Indigenous languages.

Across Yellowknife, participants in the Mentor-Apprentice Program – where experienced speakers are partnered with people just starting out – gathered to mark the progress they have made together.

Cabin Radio’s Jasmine Nasogaluak and Ehxea Antoine headed to the gathering to hear from people about what their language means to them.

Betty Elias from Tuktoyaktuk even performed a song to celebrate her language.

“If you want to get away from being shy to speak it, come to us and we’ll help you,” Elias said.

“Of course you’ll make mistakes, because it’s a strange language to you. We’re there to help.”

“Listen to the Elders and your parents. They speak it. I encourage each and everybody to speak their language,” said Fort Good Hope resident Joseph Tobac.

“It’s within us, our culture.”

Ollie Williams and Jasmine Nasogaluak contributed reporting.