Day One Recap of Language Summit in Juneau

Tuesday, 13 November 2018 15:26

Some of the Tlingit First Nation members at the summit on day one.

This marks the first of the three day summit in Juneau.

Tlingit Culture and Dance

Presentations in the Tlingit language and traditional Tlingit dancing took centre stage to kick off the Voice of Our Ancestors Summit in Juneau today

Invitations for all Indigenous’ groups to partake in the dancing was given, and approximately 64 Alaska children sang in the performance along with five to ten elders.

One elder also invited Indigenous’ people from the Interior today, including Carcross/Tagish First Nation members.

Sealaska Heritage President Rosita Worl said while her generation was suppressed from learning her own language, she’s seeing her children being revitalized in their traditional language in schools, helping to reconnect them to their own traditional cultures.

Sealaska Heritage also wanted to thank the fifteen children who spoke in their traditional Indigenous languages during the opening speeches.

Worl says Indigenous revitalization program in Juneau are supported by in the school district which includes holding Tlingit language classes in local schools.

Executive Councillor Duane Aucoin and Metlakatla Councilor Gavin Hudson speaking at the summit today

Tsimshian Language

Meanwhile In the Tsimshian language, there are no fluent speakers under the age of 60. There are less than 100 speakers worldwide.

Gavin Hudson, co-founder of the Haayk Foundation, says there are over a 1000 of the Tsimshian people in the US alone, with more in Canada.

The Tsimshian are Indigenous people around the Northwest coast of North America.

Duane Aucoin, a member of the Inland Tlingit First Nation, says that borders between Canada and the United States “aren’t our borders” and that those line are drawn restrict ability of a trans-partnership between Indigenous people along those boundary lines, Hudson cites difficulty pairing fluent speaks in Canada of the Tsimshian language with learning speakers in the United States as one example of this illusional boundary

Hudson also says talking circles in Anchorage and language group meetups in Juneau are other initiatives to get Indigenous language like Tsimshian being spoken more again.

Negative Impact From Boarding Schools Towards the latter portion of the afternoon, a minute of silence followed for all the Indigenous' people who have been negatively impact by boarding schools.

Keiyeishi Bessi Cooley also provided discussions around reconciliation and the healing process Indigenous people have when language and culture is in Indigenous communities. Day two of the event begins tomorrow at nine with Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian storytelling.

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