Thank you.
Thank you to all our witnesses. It's good to see you again.
“Use of Indigenous Languages in Proceedings of the House of Commons” is obviously the name of the study, but I'd like to pull back from that for just a moment. I want to talk about language revitalization so that we can come to terms with where we are going, particularly for indigenous youth.
I'm from central Newfoundland. It's the middle part of the island, unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq and of course the legendary Beothuk.
Recently, we funded a program in Miawpukek with Chief Mi’sel Joe to help integrate the Mi’kmaq language into the school curriculum. It is a wonderful first step, as was described to me, but as a member of Parliament, I need to understand where we go next.
This is where I come to you both. There are some things that worry me about the next step.
Ms. Gabriel, you talked about people who feel there is shame in our language for some indigenous...and probably for our youth. I hope that disappears. Recruitment of speakers is another part of it.
I'll just leave my part at that, and I will get back to the House of Commons part in a moment. I'm worried that we will not be able to recruit enough speakers. Hopefully, we can get shame in our language out of the conversation before we start teaching our children to reclaim their heritage.
Chief Bellegarde, I will start with you.