[Witness spoke in Mohawk]
Greetings, and thank you.
My name is Katsi'tsakwas. I am Turtle Clan and I am from Kanesatake.
It took over 100 years to get us to this point. It is going to take at least 100 years to bring back our languages to life. These are the words of Hilda Nicholas, director of the Language and Cultural Centre.
[English]
After the Indian residential school apology, an elder said that it took us over 100 years to get us to this point. It may take another 100 to get our languages back to our lives the way it should be.
During my presentation, I want to use intermittently “onkwehón:we” for the term “indigenous people”, because for us it best describes the people of Turtle Island.
I want to say that we are very happy to be able to have this opportunity to discuss Bill C-91 with you.
I want to state for the record that each onkwehón:we language is distinct and that a first nations language does not exist. There is a wide diversity of indigenous languages and peoples across Canada, and therefore each language should be treated as distinct and unique among the world's languages.
In order to find solutions, we need to contextualize realities we face under ongoing colonization and assimilation. Therefore, Bill C-91 must be amended and the vague statements must be revised to strengthen its intent of protecting and respecting onkwehón:we languages. It must remind Canada of its international human rights obligations and uphold the highest standards of human rights.
I want to describe the preciousness of our language. It is the very essence of onkwehón:we peoples, and it is deeper than a form of expression or communication. It contains our cosmology, our constitution, our value system and our history, and traditional knowledge systems are woven into our languages. Our ceremonies follow the natural rhythms of the natural life cycles found in our ancestral languages.
I am part of the Kanien'kehá:ka—People of the Flint—and the language I speak is Kanien'kéha. It is a language that is composed of 80% verbs, is action-oriented and is descriptive. It is a complex language that not only links us to our ancestral teachings but also strengthens our relationships with the environment and natural cycles.
For far too long, the importance of onkwehón:we languages has languished in the dark, as important problems like social problems rooted in colonization remain the priority of the day. Language is a key in the healing of our nations from the genocidal acts of colonization.
As such, since Bill C-91 mentions “reconciliation”, then acts of reparation and restitution must occur. Our languages are intricately and closely tied to the land, our relationship to Mother Earth, and all our relations.
As we all know, one of the tools used to destroy indigenous languages and cultures was lontiontáhkhwa lonteriwaienstakhwa, the Indian residential school system, whose scope, purpose and depravity are well documented in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Revitalization, maintenance and perpetuation of onkwehón:we languages are best done by onkwehón:we people themselves. We feel the urgency of the state of onkwehón:we languages more profoundly in our community.
We can no longer waste any time tolerating the imposition of colonial languages and the ongoing assimilation policies and programs. With each passing year we lose elders who have carried traditional knowledge—the first language speakers. We cannot afford to waste any more time from political posturing either.
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expressed in an expert language meeting on January 19 in 2016 an important message regarding the growing “crisis” and the loss of indigenous languages as being “urgent”, and while statistics help government create policies and programs, they cannot convey the level of urgency felt in communities that are resisting assimilation. They cannot paint a portrait of the grief of our elders as they witness the slow obliteration of our ancestral languages through colonial assimilation.
We need to strengthen some of the wording in the preamble. I'll go directly to some of the words.
In general, instead of just “recognition”, there should be “respect and affirmation of our human rights”.
In paragraph 5, it ignores the Indian reserve system, the ongoing land dispossession from institutionalized racism, a structure that is more akin to an authoritarian state than a democratic society. The colonial agenda and doctrines of superiority have been used as foundations of oppression to justify genocidal acts in lontiontáhkhwa lonteriwaienstakhwa, or the Indian residential school system.
In the 18th paragraph, the preamble should be more in line with article 22 of the UN declaration, which says, "Particular attention...shall be paid to the rights and special needs of indigenous elders, women, youth...children and persons with disabilities”.
The bill must take into account the multi-generational impacts of the Indian residential school system and the genocidal laws and policies. Hence, it should be a trauma-informed lens to get back our languages.
I'm not sure how I'm doing for time, but I'm going to go directly to the impacts of Canada's Official Languages Act and Bill 101.