On the International Decade of Indigenous languages

What it means to me is that our country is supporting this whole principle, our world is also supporting this principle. This need is that we’re having progress in the world. There’s progress because the people of this land — Turtle Island, is what the people from here refer to it as — they provided clothing, they provided food, they provided a home, they provided generosity of all different stripes. And now it is time for them to realize that the language that was spoken is precious because it speaks to the land, it speaks of the land, and it’s for protecting not only the land, but the people who live on it. And not just Indigenous people, but all peoples. So from the language comes an emotional maturity that can only be contained in the Indigenous language. In the colonizers language, there’s just so much that’s left out in terms of emotion, in terms of how you should be. The way of being is to realize that you are only one of many, and that you should always work together. 

On where she hopes we’ll be by the Decade’s end

Further ahead. Ten years of development, ten years of investigating, ten years of seeking truth, ten years of trying all different kinds of things and finding a way. And there’s so many different ways of finding. In the arts — that’s the field that I’m in, I’m a storyteller — there’s so many different ways in which I can transfer that knowledge through just one word, like which I shared with you. I can share just one word, and that stays with the people. It’s because that word was used here for thousands of years. So it holds power.

On language from the heart

It’s a heart language. It’s from heart. And it’s respectful, it’s loving. It’s kind. It’s all those things which I’m afraid that in our society today, we’re not conscientious of that. Like, how do I be kind to you? You know, how do I respect you? And with my words, with my being, where a stranger becomes a friend. That’s really important. It’s an important thing about language.