National Aboriginal languages Day March 31, 2014

 

 

 

March 31, 2014

National Aboriginal Languages Day March 31, 2014

Our Indigenous l anguages are traditional knowledge that is transmitted intergenerationally from Indigenous peoples’ activities – tied to learning of, from and on the land. Indigenous peoples’ environmental knowledge is embedded in their Indigenous names, oral traditions and terminologies specific to their homelands and crucial to its environmental protection.

Our Indigenous languages endure and are part of this land. The place names themselves echo with our voices and languages – Kaná:ta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and more . R ivers, lakes, towns, cities and districts still bear our ancestral names.

We owe a debt of gratitude to our ancestors who held sacred our t raditional knowledge and passed on th is legacy to future generations in spite of colonial laws and policies that aimed to eliminate their teachings .

The survival of our languages, cultures and histories is now a responsibility for all of us. We must en sure they endure, are revitalized and thrive .

Our Indigenous language warriors are the language teachers in our schools who are doing so much with so little support and recognition from Canada; our Elders who share their traditional and ceremonial knowledge; and our parents who entrust their children to learn the ways of their ancestors, knowing that their children will grow in confidence in their Indigenous identity, self – reliance and self – worth .

March 31, National Aboriginal Languages Day, is a day to reflect on the importance of our Indigenous languages, cultures and histories. First Nations languages are important not only to our people but to all the peoples of this land. Today is an opportunity for all of us to ask what can we do, individually and collectively, to ensure the legacy of our ancestors remain strong, vibrant and alive .

Please join the Assembly of First Nations in honouring and supporting all Indigenous languages – today and every day