ᑭᑕᑐᐢᑫᐏᓇᐣ

Kitatoskaywinan

ENGLISH TRANSLATION “It’s our work and we’re doing it together.”

The Project: Language and Culture

Language and Culture

Language and culture are the heart and soul of an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). Our Inineemowin / Cree language (n-dialect) evolved through our ancestors’ relationship with our territory and is inextricably tied to our lands. The land comes alive in our language through the names of our settlements, travel routes, and sites. Our stories carry the shared memory of our peoples, our histories, and our cultural practices. The land may look “untouched” to an outside eye, but it is rich in evidence of an ancient relationship with our people: it holds trails, portages, resting sites, artefacts, and burials spread across thousands of kilometres – each with its own stories and history. Our language identifies who we are as Nayhenaway Ininewuk with many Elders still fluent in our language. Younger members are striving to rebuild the language despite the traumas of language loss through residential schools and colonial institutions.

Inineemowin needs to be revitalized and restored for future generations to communicate in their ancestral language. This new IPCA can unlock opportunities for our language through innovative technological, land-based teaching, and learning methodologies. We welcome Inineemowin / Cree language in all parts of Kitaskeenan Kaweekanawaynichikatek – The Land We Want To Protect project.

“For the young people that are struggling with their identity we need to know where we come from — that is up on the coast, our ancestral lands where our past generations lived, roamed, made memories. We need to protect this land because it is who we are as a people. My late Chaban, Dorothy, shared many stories with me growing up of her life in York Factory and her face would light up. How life on the coast was beautiful.”

– Lateesha Redhead, YFFN

“In my opinion I think it is most important to have language and culture in our lives. We need language to communicate with our elders who only know Cree. That’s why it’s most important to us young [Indigenous] people who need to learn about our culture and language.”

– Heather Nepitabo, 14, WLFN

“As a young man, I was taught the language of the land (Cree). Trappers are like poets when heard in the language. Our people communicate with each other at four levels. When you can understand (land/language), you can appreciate it. We are not a lost culture; we just have to explore it. Our focus should be on the land!”

– Lateesha Redhead, YFFN

In This Section

Learn more about our Inineemowin language through the Inineemowin: York Factory Cree app!