How the Stoney Nakoda language is being preserved through new educational resources
CBC News | December 03, 2021
Categories: news
First Nation hopes program will create new generation of Stoney Nakoda speakers
The Stoney language has received a historic boost this week with the creation of standardized teaching resources for those young and old learning the language for the first time.
Partnering with The Language Conservancy, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on the restoration of Indigenous languages, the Stoney Nakoda Nation located west of Calgary hopes the initiative will help preserve its language for future generations.
The language spoken by roughly 3,000 people can often be heard in the community, but those behind the project say there was a real lack of resources and standardization when it came to teaching the younger generation.
"Right now our language teachers are actually creating their own materials," said Cherith Mark, who is the language and culture co-ordinator with the Stoney Education Authority. "And so I think what [our teachers] wanted to see was resources that could be used across the board in our school districts."
The resources will supplement the learning provided by teachers and families of Stoney Nakoda youth who might be hearing the language at home but need the context or structure they can get from school, said Mark.
Included in the learning materials are three picture books, a Level 1 textbook and an alphabet colouring book. There are also digital resources, like a 9,000-word dictionary, digital media and vocabulary app.
"We're just starting," said Mark. "Our momentum is going. So after this there's definitely going to be continuation — Level 2, Level 3 — you know, and we're still going to keep ... adding to the little bundle that we have started here."
The program works with Stoney elders, linguists and the community to build the large database that the education resources are built on.
The process of word collection began in 2019 with 40 elders and moved quickly, amassing a list of 14,000 words in just two weeks.
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