I heard most of your intervention in French, actually, so I tried to get the gist of what you were saying.
At one of the last meetings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Montreal, the director of the cultural centre here did a translation in Kanienkeha, because she is a first language speaker and she thinks in that language. The cultural centres have a wealth of resources, of elders who are able to provide translation, so I'm glad that you're including me alongside Chief Bellegarde, because I know that he has a passion for the language.
That is the other group that has a passion for the language and has been nickel-and-diming our projects.... We have project money for our languages, and the cultural centres are where you find the experts. That's who the people work with. They are the experts. With the subtleties of translation, just as in any language, you need to have a person who knows how to change those ideas into what needs to be expressed for everybody.
My language, Kanienkeha, is 80% verbs, so you really need to understand what action is being required and the concept that people are using. As one elder said, it took over 150 years to get our languages to the state in which they are today. It might take another 100 years for us to be able to restore and maintain our languages, but it needs to be done in a way that fully supports the work being done at the community level.
Thank you.