![Sarah Efron [Journalist]](../images/header.gif)
print stories| HOME |
| PRINT STORIES |
| RADIO STORIES |
| WEB CONTENT |
| ABOUT THE SITE |
Michif Language Conference
Winnipeg Free Press, April 14, 2002
Michif is considered a linguistic oddity because it shares grammar and vocabulary equally from two different linguistic groups-the verbs are Cree (Algonquin language) and the nouns are French (Indo-European language). English and Saulteaux also contribute to the mix. Examples from the Manitoba Metis Federation’s Michif lessons include Pe piitikwaaik lii deu chień, wii kishinaw daahor (Bring the two dogs in, it’s going to get cold outside) and Wii itootew dań ligliiz Jimaash (He/She is going to church on Sunday). Less than two thousand people are estimated to speak the language today, although you might still hear it in western Manitoba towns such as Duck Bay, Camperville and Boggy Creek.
The conference’s organizer, Norman Fleury of the Manitoba Metis Federation, has done many things to try to preserve his language. He wrote a Michif dictionary and organized classes at a community college in Brandon and at a Metis resource center near Deloraine. Fleury’s mother, who turns 100 years old this June, will be attending the conference. But Fleury says it’s her mother-his grandmother--who taught him the importance of Michif.
“When you went to her place and spoke to her in English, she’d say ‘speak to me in our language. I don’t understand you. I’m not an English woman and my language is Michif,’” says Fleury, age 53, from his office in Brandon.
The conference will feature a feast, Metis fiddlers and dancing of the traditional Red River Jig. But important decisions will be made about the future of the language: Fleury wants to develop teaching materials and identify potential Michif teachers. He also wants to try to standardize the language, which varies greatly from region to region.
“A few years ago there was no such thing as Michif language teachers,” says Fleury. “We had no resources, no dictionaries, no teachers and no materials. Now we have five people for sure who can teach the Michif language in Manitoba.”
Fleury says some young people will be escorting their grandparents to the conference. He hopes it will be an learning experience for both elders and children.
“My grandmother looked at our language as a spiritual language, a God given language. God gave us this language to understand one another and so others could understand us, and I look at it that way too.”