Learning an Endangered Language

Less than three per cent of Gitxsan know their language. Host Shaneen Robinson is Gitxsan on her mother’s side and Cree on her father’s side. Dr. Jane M. Smith joins Shaneen to share tips and tricks on learning the language as both an adult and child, something Shaneen as a mom can appreciate.

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Transcript

Multiple Speakers [00:00:00] [cheerful electronic music] Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, K’ubawilxsihlxw. Oki, wishing you good life. Kuei! Kuei! Yo! Wik’sas. Dánet'e, negha dágǫ́ht’e.

Announcer [00:00:14] This is Words and Culture, a series on Indigenous languages funded by SiriusXM through the Community Radio Fund of Canada. [music fades out]

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:00:25] Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, K’ubawilxsihlxw. Tansi, Kihew Ga Ni Pawit Disinakason, Mahigan Totem. My name is Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais and I am a member of the Gitxsan Nation Gitanmaax, British Columbia on my mother’s side and a member of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation Cross Lake Band of Indians, Treaty 5 territory in northern Manitoba on my Father’s side.

I am a long time television and radio broadcaster and a communications and music industry professional currently living in Calgary, Alberta. My most important role in life is being a mother to my three sons Sampson, Marrick, and Miller. Ages 11, 7, and 5. Both of my parents are fluent speakers in their given languages of Gitsanamaax and Nêhiyawêwin.

My husband’s father is also fluent in his Michif language. Although our parents speak their languages fluently, neither my husband and I nor our sons speak any of our traditional languages. My mother’s language is at risk of being extinct within this next generation and I hope this series will help inspire me to learn more and share more with my children. I pray my boys can learn as much as possible from their grandparents about our sacred, ancient languages and culture.

At the opening of the show, you hear all of this season’s hosts giving greetings in our language. For the Gitxsan, I say, “Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, K’ubawilxsihlxw.”

This is the first important part of the language that I was taught as a child. It’s the way we begin a speech in the feast house, at events, and when greeting others who are listening to us speak. It translates to “Chiefs, Women Chiefs, Children of the Chiefs”.

My first guest is Doctor Jane Smith. She is an educator who’s worked tirelessly for decades to provide knowledge and tools to help in the effort of preserving the Gitxsan language. She has published stories in Gitsanamaax and English and has published more than 20 children’s books.

I asked Dr. Smith to introduce herself in our language.

Jane Smith [00:02:16] Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, gant K’ubawilxsihlxw. Luu amhl (continues introduction in Gixsanamaax) Xsiwis ts'im Gitxsan we’y. Or Dr. M.J.N. Smith, that was my name. (continues in Gitxsanamaax)

I just acknowledged the owners of the land, the Chiefs and the Matriarchs. And I said who I was, my name in the feast hall, and I live on the Gitxsan territories. And my house group is 'Wii K'aax.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:03:03] Well I was looking at some of the writings you've done and I was actually with my little one today, showing him some of this the Gitxsan Sim'algyax, language items, and some of the children's books – what kind of kickstarted your passion for documenting and preserving our language?

Jane Smith [00:03:28] Well, I was told that we had 3% speakers – fluent speakers. And so I checked to see, is it that low? And then I was told, “Oh, maybe 3% or lower.” So that kind of scared me and I knew that the language had to be taught. And I wasn't a teacher of the language at school, but I used a lot of it and taught kids. And taught them culture, just – and taught the little songs and they loved it.

And so that was a start and that was, like, years ago. And I just teach after-school to kids and then I taught evenings to adults. That's all. And it's just really fun because you're singing and I make them play games in Gitxsanamaax. And it’s amazing.

We'd only have one hour to teach and they would be freaking out at the beginning, and then in an hour they were singing the song. It was because they listened to each other sing, each person has to sing a solo. And then we have vocab and sentences and phrases.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:04:51] I know that you've written a lot of university papers and things that people study. How do you explain our languages to non-Indigenous people?

Jane Smith [00:05:04] Our languages from comes from Tsimshianic, and that's a language family, and that we share that with the Tsimshian and the Nisg̱a’a. So I can understand the Nisg̱a’a and – but I don't always know the words with the Tsimshian. And our language is Gitxsanamaax and that is the language of the Gitxsan. And we have two dialects. We have the West and we have the Northern. So I speak the Northern, but I can still understand the people in the West.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:05:44] How many language speakers do we have now? Since you started, you said less than 3%. Do you know what that number is now?

Jane Smith [00:05:52] It’s still – I just checked the other day and they said it was still 3%, but I heard about another group down south and I think they have seven fluent speakers that just started to learn, so that – I found that really encouraging. So I'll just keep right at it. Come up with new different ideas to teach the language.

Shaneen Robsinson-Desjarlais [00:06:19] What is your hope for the future of our language and culture? You know, I'm half Cree, half Gitxsan. Growing up in Winnipeg, I only learned a few, you know, in the summer when we'd visit our komis with my mom. My mom would teach me, you know, a few words. So I know basic children's words, but I don't know a lot of the intense languages and phrases.

And then on my dad's side, I've lost that language too. They're both fluent speakers. So my dad is a Cree speaker.

What is your hope for my generation? My children's generation? You know, your kids, your grandkids, you know, for this language? I'm doing this project, I'm scared. You know, what is your hope for people like me and my children?

Jane Smith [00:07:11] I want you to know your identity. That's a great, big, big one for me, luu hluutxwsm. And so I do all sorts of things and we've got to utilize our Elders. We've got to utilize technology and that's what I'm doing.

I've done a lot of work on First Voices and I just say it's for those who are coming in the future because, when they get here, there won't be any speakers. We'll be all gone. The Elders will be all gone. And when they long for to hear their language and long to know who they are, they can always go on First Voices and other technical things that people have done, and they can hear their language.

And if they really wanted to, they could learn it right off the computer. There's songs and games and speeches and everything. We've just put it all on there and we've got more to put on there.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:08:17] You know, in some cultures, say, in our Cree ways, a lot of our ceremonies – they don't like to document. Because of the fear instilled with us, you know, for many generations. But now, you know, ceremony people are starting to be okay with documenting that so that it preserves that for future generations.

Now I see that you're utilizing our technology to document our language for future generations. So you've done books, you've done recordings. Now you're looking into, like, I guess an app, right? It would be, like, a Gitxsan language app almost? How do you think technology plays a role in language preservation?

Jane Smith [00:09:02] It's really important because everybody's on their phone anyway so they might as well utilize that. But with the documentation, I went – a Chief told me – I said, “Is it okay if I write this stuff?”

Because we're an oral language and we work from the breath of our grandfathers and I didn't want to be doing anything that would offend any of the Chiefs and the Elders. And so he said that I should go for it, that all this was – had to be kept. And all this work that I do would be put in a bent box. And when children and people who wanted to learn the language, they could just open the bent box and take out what they wanted to learn.

So that motivated me and off I went to start writing. That was years ago, so – but I still remember the quote that he gave me. And it still gives me motivation today. And that I will work until I can't work anymore.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:10:07] (narrating) There is a shame I carry not being able to speak my languages of Gitsanamaax and Nêhiyawêwin, but I have been making time with my parents and children to make sure they share teachings and some words. There are books, apps and websites that also help families to learn together.

Dr. Smith mentioned a website called FirstVoices.ca. It is a collaborative platform where Indigenous communities manage, curate and share their languages online. She’s invested about 50 years of her life in language preservation. All of her sisters are fluent as well. I asked her how they were all able to attain fluency.

Jane Smith [00:10:41] We never got sent to residential school. And so we lived off the land with our grandparents and our parents and different people who wanted to do their fish, we'd go to Anlo and we'd – to the fish camp there.

And my father had team horses that he would do work with at the pole camp. So of course they needed hay. So we worked in the hay fields. And then he'd always plant a great big potato garden. So we were working in the garden, digging potatoes, hilling potatoes, hauling potatoes. And it was all work.

And when I do research on residential school, all they did was work, but nobody praised them. Nobody appreciated them for the work they did. And yet, when we did our work, we were praised, we were appreciated, and rewarded at times.

That – I just feel that all that residential school kids got were trauma and loss of their identity. And I want their children to find something like technology, if it has to be, so that they can learn.

And I'm doing a new program with Wila Dildilsdi'm, and it's so hard for people to come to class. They work all day and then they have to go somewhere else to go for class. And then life happens. And so they have lots of difficulty trying to get to class.

So I've decided we should put lessons on their phones. So I've got texts that I'm gonna put on their phones and the audio for the lesson. And then after five lessons, they'll come into the Wila Dildilsdi'm office and I'll test them and they'll get a reward.

And after I retired, I did a year with the immersion – kindergarten immersion up at Majagaleehl Gali Aks. And that was fun. I used songs and games – movement, lots of movement with the kids. And it was just amazing how they could learn.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:13:04] You find it easier to work with the children for the language than the adults because their brains are just like little sponges, eh, they learn so fast.

Jane Smith [00:13:15] And they loved it, and they wanted to learn.

It was the pilot, first immersion course, and ‘cause I worked with them, I just started to be – really believe and that's how we could teach the children – was through immersion.

Shaneen Robsinon-Desjarlais [00:13:30] I knew that my Zeets used to always say that, you know, we've got to prepare for future generations and learn about our ways. What do you hope the future looks like from your point of view?

Jane Smith [00:13:45] I think they'll have to be searching for who they are because there just won't be Elders around that know the language and that know the culture. So it'll be a struggle, so they'll have to use books and technology to try and learn.

But I think that whole thing inside of them is going to want that, no matter what. So they'll be searching and they’ll also – the seekers will find. They'll find themselves, their identity. Very important to me. That's the root of everything I do.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:14:29] Do you have any stories, old stories, that you heard when you were little that were passed down that you're able to share with us today?

Jane Smith [00:14:37] I went to New Zealand and visited the Māori and what they did with – what they did with their children because they were – it was just really impressive how they could do the language and so I'd  – and so I came back and I wrote a book and I'll sing you part of a song.

And it's a Wolf song, limx Lax Gibuu, (names song and sings in Gitsanamaax)

So I sang the wolf has a long tail, the wolf has long whiskers, the wolf has long legs, has sharp eyes, and then he has short ears, and then has a cold nose, and the song asks, “Who has touched the nose?”

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:15:59] (narrating) The tune of that song we just heard probably sounds familiar. It’s the melody for  The Farmer in the Dell, “Hi-ho, the Dairy-Oh, the Farmer in the Dell.”

Many language keepers and teachers use nursery rhymes to teach children, and even adults, the language. I find that fascinating because those rhythms are ingrained in us from other sources like kids television, books, and English language songs.

Much of Dr. Smith’s work is for Gitxsan children. While the author of several books, she has also published shorter stories. One of these is called Happiness Book.

I asked Dr. Smith to read some of it for us.

Jane Smith [00:16:37] Gwi ant luu midinhl goodin. What fills your heart with happiness.

Hinda win nax’nihl anuuhl. When I hear the drum.

Hinda win nax’nihl ‘wahlin ant’imahlasxw. When I hear the ancient stories.

Luu amhl goodi’y hinda wil miiluxwi’y go’ohl wilp galts’ap. I am happy when I dance at the village hall.

Luu amhl goodi’y hinda wil xsisise’e’y sbagayt habasxw.

I am happy when I walk on the grass.

Luu amhl goodi’y hinda wil limxi’y go’ohl wilp siwilaksa.

I am happy when I sing at the school.

Luu amhl goodi’y win gya’a wil yukw lijam anaaxs noxho’y.

I am happy when my mother is frying bread.

Luu amhl goodi’y hinda wil win gya’ahl ts’a’as noho’y, siip’inhl ‘nii ‘nit.

My heart fills with happiness when I see the face of my mother, I love her so much.

Sabaakhl. The end.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:18:00] (narrating) Speaking with a language keeper is such a great honour. I find our conversation keeps morphing, but at the centre language is always present. It brings me back to my childhood spending time with my Ye’eh and Zeets on our territory.

I asked Dr. Smith about the importance of language within our traditional ways.

Jane Smith [00:18:17] Our language comes from the land. So actually, that's where we should be. On the land, learning it, but we're in the classroom because we have to learn it from there now. So it's not optional. The language is something we have to do. It's survival, it's identity, it's responsibility. So we must support immersion, technology, Elders, families. And every tool that's available for us.

Okay, so I've attended a feast, I've been sitting there and I've given gifts and food and money. Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, gant K’ubawilxsihlxw. (speaks Gitsanamaax)

Again, I've addressed the Chiefs, the owners of the land, and I'm saying I'm happy to see them all. (repeats Gitsanamaax) And it's usually a memorial feast, so I'm saying I know how their hearts feel.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) All of us have gone through this.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) juxw k'ii'y sa. Daylight will come to you another day.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) We know how your heart feels.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) You will be okay because there’s so many of you.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) All of you have done so much for us and we have done nothing for you.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) You have finished a big work this evening.

(speaks Gitsanamaax) You made it look like light work because you have one heart among you all.

T'oyaxsii't ‘niin Sim gigyat go'ihl aa'ts'ip. I thank the Chiefs at the door.

T'oyaxsii't 'nisi'm (speaks Gitsanamaax) I thank you all. (speaks Gitsanamaax)

When you host a feast, like you did when you were in the territory, you are – usually it's a settlement feast. Someone in your house group has passed away, has died. And then we go through all the different things, like we have – we welcome the body back, and we have a smoke feast where we do the announcements.

And then, we have a memorial where people get to say wonderful things about the person. And then there's a funeral. And then after, there's the feast.

And all the Wolves were invited and the Laxsee’l, the Frogs and Wolves, because you're the host and you're the Gisk’haast. And all of the Gisk’haast clan come and help you. They contribute money and food. To help your house group while you're doing all this work.

And so you start. The chief of the house welcomes the people and they open in prayer and they start to save – serve soup and then they serve bread and fry bread and all the stuff, and we're eating. And then when that's done, they pay people.

The father clan gets paid, the wilksalaks, because they're the ones that are hired. And these are all your father's relatives and they get gifts of food, extra food, and extra gifts, and money for all the work they have done. And they usually have someone who buys a casket, someone who buys the clothes, someone who is the secretary writes down everything that's happening. They pay the pallbearers, they pay the MCs, and then the money that's left in the pot, they take around and pay the guests for coming and witnessing that this work is done.

And then they have speeches. And the Chiefs praise the host group – house group that has hosted the feast, and they and they make their speech and usually a speaker from each house. And so that goes on for a while and then there's a closing prayer. And people come to the door and congratulate the Chiefs that even in their deepest sorrow, they're managing to carry on with the laws of our grandfathers. And therefore we're carrying on the breath of our grandfather's. That's where everything begins.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:23:49] And when we're in the feasts, what role does the language play when we are doing the business of the feast?

Jane Smith [00:23:58] Usually all the announcements are made in Gitsanamaax and when the Chiefs talk at the end, it's all in Gitsanamaax. And I'm sitting there writing notes and writing down the things that the Chief say. And then I write speeches for other people, they follow a pattern. So, it's amazing. I love the feast because of the language.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:24:25] You know, for somebody like me who isn't a language speaker, I just see it and hear it. And I just wish that I understood more. The stories, the history, because I know it's important. The role that we play when we’re – we have to host a feast.

But, you know when you hear those Elders speak – and so many, since I was a little girl, so many of our chiefs have gone on. What does that mean for people like myself and my cousins and my kids, that we'd never got to understand truly what they meant when they were speaking the language?

Jane Smith [00:24:59] From my experience, language and culture cannot be separated. You cannot fully understand the culture without the language. Many factors contributed to the decline of Tsimshianic, but they're all – and they’re all connected to the colonial practices. Especially the systematic cultural destruction that was carried on through the residential schools. That's the root of our problem.

You almost feel it, I think. I think – and then when you utter a few words, and I always tell this to the learners, that you're just making the ancestors so happy, and they're always saying, “Oh, I don't want to say anything because people laugh at me.”

And I said, “Nobody's laughing.” And people, and sometimes Elders, would chuckle because somebody is using some Gitsanamaax words and it's not laughing at, it's sort of a pleased chuckle. And I know the ancestors are celebrating in the tsim laxha, in a spirit place.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:26:08] For people like, you know, my generation, like I said, that, you know, maybe we're almost shy to learn. What advice do you have for people like us?

Jane Smith [00:26:17] Just keep trying and there's people who will help you and you're making your ancestors proud.

Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais [00:26:25] (narrating) Having an opportunity to share time with a language speaker who is so dedicated to preserving our ways is a great privilege for me on my learning journey.

You may have heard me refer to my “Zeets” in this episode. That word means Grandmother. Another of my favourite Gitxsan words is “Gisk’haast” which means Fireweed which is the clan I was born into. We will learn more about our clan system in future episodes.

I’m Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais, your host for the Gitxsan episodes of Words and Culture. Remember to follow us on socials for more great content and check out our website at wordsandculture.ca. Hamiyaa. Thank you for listening.

Announcer [00:27:02] [cheerful electronic music] Words and Culture is made possible with funding from SiriusXM, through the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Words and Culture is produced by Kim Wheeler. Kaylen Belair is our audio engineer and editor.

Multiple Speakers [00:27:16] Hamiyaa. Yammi! K’achu naohdá nǫ́. Halakas'la. Kitakitamaatsinyo’pau, we’ll see you later. [music fades out]