A rchive Date
[ 16-06-2020 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[https://www.atanet.org/newsbriefs/2020_june_15.php#1120252
Black Lives Matter Translation Prompts Calls for Changes to Ojibway Language
CBC (Canada) (06/05/20) Monkman, Lenard
The phrase "Black Lives Matter" has been translated into many Indigenous languages in Canada to show support for the movement, but the Ojibway language's term for black people is spurring calls for change. (In Canada, the Ojibway language is spoken from western Québec, through Ontario, Manitoba, and parts of Saskatchewan, with outlying communities in Alberta and British Columbia.)
"People's attitudes in trying to translate 'Black Lives Matter' is what set me off," said language advocate Felisha Simone. Simone said she was watching people in an Ojibway-language Facebook group attempt to translate "Black Lives Matter." She said those participating in the online discussion kept bringing up the term makade-wiiyaz, which translates closely to "black meat."
When Simone told the group that the term was outdated and needed to be changed, she was told the term was not disrespectful and that it had been in use for a long time. "I feel like there is a lot of resistance to changing the way that language is used," Simone said.
Simone explained that she has had negative experiences with using the term in the past. A few years ago at an Ojibway-language camp in Keeseekoowenin First Nation, when Simone introduced herself as makade-wiiyaz, the elders and language instructors laughed. An instructor later told her that the translation for wiiyaz was "meat." "They were saying that I didn't have to refer to myself in that way, that the term is outdated, disrespectful, and kind of racist."
Simone's mother is Anishinaabe from Black River First Nation and her father is from Antigua. She describes herself in English as Afro-Indigenous and in the Ojibway language as makade Anishinaabe ikwe, which translates closely to "black Indigenous woman."
Simone has taken steps to connect with her culture over the past five years by learning the Ojibway language. "I'm proud to learn the language," she said. "I'm not saying everyone who uses that term is intentionally disrespectful, but we should have the right as black Ojibways to determine how we are talked about or introduced."
Pat Ningewance, who is an elder, Ojibway-language instructor, and has written multiple Ojibway-language books, said she agrees that it's time for a change. "It's time to be respectful. There shouldn't be racism toward black people," she said. "The language has to embrace more healthy outlooks."
Shanese Steele, an Anishinaabe-Metis and Trinidadian activist and writer, said the Ojibway language accommodates new words all the time, and that there needs to be more respectful ways to talk about black people. She said languages should be open to adapting. "As Anishinaabe people, we are not stagnant people. We have never been. Our teachings have taught us that."
Both Steele and Simone said they would like to be referred to and introduced in a way that makes them feel comfortable. Simone said the language matters not only for herself, but for Afro-Indigenous children across the country.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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