Indigenous Liaison

Aboriginal culture and languages are closely connected and sometimes viewed as inseparable. Each language reflects the unique way Aboriginal peoples view and relate to the world. Each carries with it an unspoken network of cultural values which are a major force in the shaping of each persons self-awareness and identity. Words in a language, the ideas, and feelings they represent, and the way they are spoken allow people to fully express their traditional beliefs and ways of interacting with each other. These values help generate and maintain an individuals level of comfort and self- assurance, and consequently success in life. In the normal course of event these values are absorbed along with ones mother tongue in the early stages of life. For most young Aboriginals today, culture and language have in fact been separated. As a result most of these young people are trying to walk in two worlds with only one language. (Henze & Vanett, 1993)

Ka-ki-kiskêyihtêtan ôma, namoya kinwês maka aciyowês pohko ôma ôta ka-hayayak wasêtam askihk, êkwa ka-kakwêy miskêtan kiskêyihtamowin, iyinîsiwin, kistêyitowin, mina nânisitotatowin kakiya ayisiniwak, êkosi ôma kakiya ka-wahkotowak.

Realize that we, as human beings, have been put on this earth for only a short time and that we must use this time to gain wisdom, knowledge, respect and understanding for all human beings, since we are all relatives. – Cree proverb