Back in March I wrote an article that was published on the CBC news website about reclaiming my mother's first language, Oji-Cree. It was a wonderful, heartfelt experience writing about what it has meant to me. Learning Oji-Cree has not been easy. But each time I learn a word or phrase, I know it's about more than just me succeeding for me. It's about reclaiming the very heartbeat of my mother's people. Below is a photo of mother as a young girl, and it's the only photo I've ever seen of her as a child, maybe the only one that exists, I'm not sure. But when I look at this little girl, I wish I could tell her, "you will be a leader. You will overcome many demons and hardships, and raise two girls of her own." I wish I could tell her that I will one day learn her language, the language that will be taken away from her. I wish I could hug her, and tell her she is beautiful exactly as she is. That she will change the world.
Below is another photo I took of my mother when she was 58. She is standing strong, powerful, resilient and hopeful. She stands confident in her identity as an Oji-Cree woman. She stands complete and whole. For all the hardships she's experienced, they don't define her, but propel her to rise above and find hope, even in the darkest of places.
And what I want her to know now, is that she is passing on more than just her language, she is passing on her strength, her power, her resilience, and her hope.
Click below to read the full article I wrote for CBC about reclaiming my mother's language: