L'nuisimk (Speaking Mi'kmaq)

Abstract

The Mi’kmaq have long been people that were hunter/gatherers, craft workers and artisans before our time. The beauty of Mi’kmaq language is its pure form of fluidity and its pure connection with the culture that has returned into the hands of its true owners, the Mi’kmaq. To return the language to the people is to undo all the harm inflicted by the Government that planned to annihilate a civilization or culture of people that were considered “savages” by taking away their mother tongue or the people’s language taught to them by their parents, grandparents, family, and elders within the community. The hardships that lay ahead of the Mi’kmaq who speak English is one that is embarrassing to some, an honor to others and a burden to many. There are many reasons as to why the Mi’kmaq speakers speak their mother tongue (teaching at schools, at homes and within the community), but for those that speak English, it is an utmost shame that it was not of their own doing. We will look at how to teach the next generation through baby talk, then transition to speaking at home with both parents and children. The next transition after will be moving to speaking with other community members within the area with basic conversational phrases. The true answer to solve this problem revolves around the fellow speakers, linguists and teachers that care about preserving this respectable language. The Mi’kmaq language must be placed back where it once belonged, back into the mouths of the Mi’kmaq.