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“Marrsî” means “Thanks” in Northern Michif, the language of the Northern Métis peoples of Canada. It’s the primary phrase that Nature Canada workers have been launched to once we arrived to fulfill the fantastic group of Île-à-la-Crosse in Northwest Saskatchewan and it’s the one we discover ourselves saying again and again to our Sakitawak IPCA companions for his or her efforts to guard the boreal forest of their conventional lands.
Métis conservation data is predicated on the Michif language and conventional Métis practices. Defending the land helps defend the language and vice versa.
“The language connects to the land like butter to bannock.”
Vince Ahenakew, Michif Language Trainer and Sakitawak IPCA Board Member
Listed here are some details about Michif to assist higher perceive the language and a few phrases so that you can check out by yourself.
“Marrsî” to Vince Ahenakew, from Île-à-la-Crosse who helped us write this weblog!
In regards to the Michif language
The Michif language, spoken by Métis folks, consists of French nouns, adjectives, numbers and Cree verbs, private pronouns, and syntax. If you realize some French, a number of the phrases could look and sound acquainted however Michif is a language all its personal. We’re presenting the dialect spoken in Île-à-la-Crosse however spelling and pronunciation fluctuate relying on the area. There are even sub-languages, together with Michif-Anishnaabe, Michif-Cree, and French Michif.
“We’ve three dialects of Michif. Ours is Northern Michif. I’ll say it’s about 10 % French and a bit little bit of English thrown in there sometimes, it is dependent upon the place you’re, and a complete lot of Cree. So, it’s very easy, or I suppose it’s actually commonplace for folks to be utilizing each, switching between French and English once they speak.”
Vince Ahenakew, Michif Language Trainer and IPCA Board Member at Île-à-la-Crosse
The variety of Michif audio system is declining due to colonial influences however communities like Île-à-la-Crosse are working to reverse that pattern. Kids in the neighborhood be taught Michif at dwelling and in school, there’s a Michif-language radio station, and conservation efforts just like the Sakitawak IPCA assist to advertise Michif names for locations and species.
Why is the Michif language so essential for conservation?
Indigenous communities usually inhabit areas of biodiversity, the place conservation is essential. The Métis, Woodland Cree, and Dene communities of Île-à-la-Crosse in Northwestern Saskatchewan are one instance of this.
Conventional data from such communities is the important thing to sustainably conserving their biodiversity. The Métis of Île-à-la-Crosse have been sustainably utilizing the land for hundreds of years and safeguarding Woodland Caribou, Walleye, and the boreal forest.
The conservation efforts of the Sakitawak IPCA are based mostly within the conventional practices of the Métis who’ve lived there for hundreds of years and handed down their data and abilities orally (largely in Michif). Moreover, the IPCA is an effort not simply to protect the land and waters of the N-14 fur block, but additionally to protect and rejoice the tradition and traditions of those that stay there. By utilizing and selling the Michif language, the group will probably be preserving and strengthening the sustainable group practices which will probably be indispensable in defending the biodiversity of the Sakitawak Indigenous Protected and Conserved Space.
“There’s loads of place names in our historic group right here which are in Michif, loads of the phrases, and loads of the best way of preserving and making ready these meals, the animals. All of the animals have completely different names as properly, and the bushes and the crops, and people sorts of issues, plus the medicines they get and all of the meals, that’s all tied into the language. So all that data is there, it’s only a matter of reviving it.”
Vince Ahenakew, Michif Language Trainer and IPCA Board Member at Île-à-la-Crosse
Pronunciation Information
Listed here are some extra phrases and phrases so that you can attempt by yourself at dwelling:
Hey: Tân’si
“Hey, my identify is ______”
Tân’si _____ nisihkâson.
Woodland Caribou: atihkwak
“The Woodland Caribou use the N-14 fur block as a calving floor.”
atihkwak âpacihtâwak askî misowî ôta N-14 ôma î ocawâsimsocik misowî maskîkohk
Walleye: lî dörrî
“Walleye are an essential supply of meals for the group of Île-à-la-Crosse.”
Aspin ohci Sâktawînowak kî mowêwak lî dörrî, êkwa pimâcihisowak lî dörrî êkwa nanâtohk itowa kinowsêwak / lî pwasöň mîna isihkâtêwak
Forest: nohcimihk / sakahk
“We make tea from the labrador tea crops which develop within the boreal forest.”
L’tî ni osihtamâsonân mâna nîpisîsa maskîkohk ohci
Bald Eagle: mik’sô
“Bald eagles are one in every of many fowl species who make their dwelling within the N-14 fur block”
mik’sôwak mîna mihcåt kotakak nanâtohk piyîsîsak misowî ôta N-14 pimâcihisowak
Nature: askî
Indigenous-led conservation initiatives like Sakitawak IPCA are serving to us halt and reverse nature loss.
Sâkitawâwînowak kâ nîkânîstahkwâw ôma IPCA kwayes wîcihômakan ta nakinama kâ misinawâtahtâcik askî
Thanks: Marrsî
“Thanks for taking a bit little bit of time to find out about Michif and the group of Île-à-la-Crosse.”
Marrsî ôma kâ ayamihtâyin, ap’sis ta kiskihtamin Nêhiyawêwin ôma Michif mîna tân’si î isi pimât’siya Sâkitawahk.
Try these sources to be taught extra about Michif
Nature Canada thanks Vince Ahenakew for assist with scripting this weblog. Vince is a Michif language instructor in Île-à-la-Crosse, SK and a board member of the Sakitawak IPCA.
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