Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa visits Eabametoong First Nation after a fire razed down the community's only school. Mamakwa says he wants to see extra support for students' mental health as they come to terms with the loss of their school.
Ontario MPPs can now speak Indigenous languages at Queen's Park, after previously being limited to English or French. Language speakers say it's a small step on the path toward reconciliation, but means the world to those working to preserve traditional languages lost to Canada's colonial systems.Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa is seen in Eabametoong First Nation in this February 2024 file photo.
Provincially, Ontario's Ministry of Education has developed a curriculum for teaching Indigenous languages, and in the 2023-2024 school year, the province"Our people are reclaiming ownership of our language. We have developed and implemented full-immersion education in our community schools. We also have developed and established bilingual, bicultural education in our schools," Mamakwa said.
"You can read it from a book and you can take it from a teacher, but the best way to learn a language is to be able to be exposed to it, to hear it, and to understand its important ties to its culture and heritage from where it has come," Rickford said. "I'm very hopeful that efforts that the member from Kiiwetinoong and all of us are trying to push forward … will be a small step to ensuring that stops, as it relates to our First Nations people, and that progress can be made to continue to protect their language and their culture and soul," Blais said.Anishinaabemowin is more than just words — as Mamakwa explained, the language connects people deeply to their cultural roots, traditions and histories.
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