I went to school when I was eight years old. I was taken away from my community and taken to a residential school where we spoke only English. Prior to going to school, I spoke my language fluently. It was my first language. I was proud. I was so proud, now that I think about it in retrospect. I was so proud of being a Gwich'in, of speaking my language and understanding it.
It gave me so much confidence in myself. Even before I went to the residential school, I had a dog team of my own. This must have been when I was about six or seven years old. I had a dog team of two. I pulled a tent and stove for my parents through the Richardson Mountains.
Then I went to school and I had to speak English. I had to read, write, and speak English all at the same time. Many times I saw a big red X on my paper. I was a failure. They took my pride and confidence away from me when they forced that English language upon me and punished me for speaking my language.
So when I talk about pride, today I talk about pride because I relearned my Gwich'in language from my grandmother, who was 106 years old when she passed away. I spent two or three years with her prior to her death, mainly because I wanted to regain my Gwich'in language, which I did.
Today I have that pride because I know where I came from, because my parents and grandparents entrusted that language to me. Today I have to carry that torch and re-teach my family. This is what pride means to me.