Why White People Don't Learn Cree, Ojibwe, etc. [First Nations Languages]
09 November 2017 [link youtube]
Youtube Automatic Transcription
I want to do a really brief video you've
probably never had conversations like this with white people by the way I identify as a white person some people consider me non-white because I'm Jewish defense the South of France I was considered non-white but in New York City I'd be considered white anyway I've had a lot of conversations white people about First Nations languages because I formerly was a student learning Korean achieve way and basically all my life I've cared a lot about First Nations politics versus First Nations languages by which I mean Cree a jib Wade na Soto mohawk etc etc the native peoples of Canada not everyone knows that term First Nations when you talk to white people about it some of them get defensive and some of them say this in a detached way you you hear their excuses for why they personally have never studied an indigenous language I've never studied one of these languages why they would never study them why they're not teaching their kids these languages and sometimes it's stated in terms of why they don't think these languages should be taught in schools why they basically think nobody should say these languages I mean they will never stayed at that bluntly but it's often stated in terms of why they wouldn't do it and why others wouldn't couldn't shouldn't do it and I mean that's interesting and like that is already interesting people should examine what their motivations are for having those conversations with me if I told people I was studying ancient Greek I don't think I'd get a similar reaction like yeah well this is why I'd never study ancient Greek you know obviously they emotionally feel there's something they have to explain to themselves like they were born and raised in Canada they lived their whole lives in Canada and you see and feel this shadow of genocide on you this shadow of the colonial history of why Canada is the way it is why Toronto is called Toronto why Ottawa is called Ottawa you know these are native place names on the map why Saskatchewan is call Saskatchewan you know it right to some extent you know it's there and yet you never even read it Wikipedia article on it most of the time talking to people have never done like Wikipedia level reading about who are the Cree who are they Ghibli they've really lived in self-selected ignorance and I think that's why they react that way no sir I've studied a lot of languages and at one point I was actually studying modern Greek not ancient Greek but they're very similar monetary change so I told ya learning break you know and I got those reactions that obviously for several years I was studying Cambodian in several different circumstances nobody ever had this reaction like oh well I don't know I wouldn't support Cambodian being taught in the schools or like I never study and myself like you know there there was no no sense of that but even for YP of course I talked about this with with First Nations people too and their reactions are really meaningful and interesting that'd be a separate video but this obviously serves something in the white Canadian ego and you know in a sense it should Canada should be in a position to be proud of its indigenous languages and proud of its indigenous heritage instead of being ashamed of it like in a really simple sense you know I remember the last time I was in Ottawa the last two times they had this fabulous exhibition on of Inuit statuary Inuit stone sculptures fabulous and I remember looking at it and you know there really is the sense of like well this is the great Canadian art this really represents Canada now it's not only the Inuit we also have a lot of really good west coast BC indigenous Carver's if you go to have you been to Vancouver Airport think okay okay Vancouver Airport has gorgeous like large-scale statues and art by First Nations people there is this sense in which Canada even the name Canada as a First Nations word in case you haven't guessed Canada isn't uh isn't a small town in England or something you know it's not like New York it's not new Canada this is the this is the first Canada it's the only one it's not it's not like New York it's not like New England this is old Canada this is the original candidate the only one we got there is this ineluctable sense in which First Nations statuary whether it's west coast or Inuit or something represents Canada and that's never gonna change no matter how badly we manage to this up no matter how close we come to hell right genocide or the disappearance these languages it always has that it always has that gravitas it always has that significance in Canada always will and a lot of white people feel we ought to be able to be proud of this but instead we don't feel pride it's not part of a positive pan Canadian nationalism instead it's this subject of shame and excuse making and awkward rationalizations across the political spectrum left wing right wing moderate image whatever you know I find this so in terms of the actual excuses people give me for four of these languages it's interesting the number one excuse and I think this is actually imitating Australians because Australians will tell you this about native Australia this is I think they're taught this in school this is like the standard excuse in Australia is well there are so many native languages like we can't possibly learn them all rappy guess like well you know there are so many Asian languages you can't look white learn Cambodia when there are hundreds of others you don't even within Cambodia there are several language within laos we have like more than 40 languages you know than Southeast Asia we have a lot of languages so you know therefore what would be the significance of learning any one language now that is very obviously a rationalization it's very obviously nonsensical like well the fact that I can't learn in you it also makes it meaningless for me to learn Cree right so with those people again I really find they just need to read Wikipedia they often have the the the misconception that somehow each of these languages is very very localized that it can't like like you'd learn a language and would only be valid in one village or something and I just say to them well you know can you look at this Wikipedia article can you actually see the map of how much land Cree covers as a language and yes you can get into specific dialects within Cree but believe me if you speak West Cree you can learn East but their dialects of the same language they are fundamentally the same language I mean it can be hard even within England if you meet someone who really speaks British English with a well accent when you know and then you go to southeast London like you know there are there are dialect differences within the United Kingdom within England you know but um you know but still it's it's one language you know and still you mean you know whether you're looking at the contrast between swampy Kree and rocky Kree or even you know within a jib way Soto and og Kree yes there are differences but these are extra languages that now cover a huge amount of territory and this centralization and rationalization of those languages has already happened we already have a modern standard form of written Cree modern standard written a jib way that process is over so a lot of people offering this critique or excuse they're assuming that's something that happened hasn't happened yet like that the first issues languages aren't ready for the word processor and for the computer so no actually all that happened a long time ago for a bunch of different reasons but including the Christian missionaries because there were Christian missionaries who were really motivated to get the Bible written in a standard Cree standard a jib way what have you and you know yes there is more than one standard but again if you actually I mean you know there's more than one standard for German like yes there's Swiss German and there's Austrian German and there's northern German like so what does that make it harder to learn any one form of German no is it really that hard to understand Swiss German if your background is in Austrian German no so so it's an excuse making mentality and all those people I just find they're kind of one Wikipedia article away from dropping that or just looking at that map and realizing oh wow Cree is a unique opportunity for a really like pan-canadian First Nations language that's powerful and you so what have you a jib way the opportunity is a little bit different because it's really it's more in the United States than it is in Canada we have a lot of a jib way in Canada don't get me wrong but if you look at how they're distributed you know a lot of the Egypt will - south of the Great Lakes and thus is now in the United States but a jib way is also a great opportunity and again it's already been standardized there already are dictionaries and one spelling system what have you covering a huge area so this isn't a case of a lane it's only that's only seven one village so you know what's most interesting to me here are obviously are not the excuses but the underlying motivations for those excuses why is it that nobody in Ottawa speaks the Ottawa language why is it there are no street signs and if you've ever been to Ottawa they put in these enormous efforts to have French everywhere to make everything bilingual to make sure this French in English you know but there's no effort to make the Ottawa language you don't written anywhere now Ottawa is is very similar to to Cree otherwise in the Algonquian language family those are all very very similar languages Cree at Jeb way ottawa there are there others and the Ottawa language specifically it seems completely inevitable that it's gonna go extinct you know so probably the opportunity in the future will be either to have a jib way or creed written in you know in the City of Ottawa and not specifically the Ottawa language and that's very sad but again you know New York New York was the homeland of the one app a lanata was a very important language same language family Algonquin language and the opportunity to preserve Lana pay as a language is now already gone that's already extinct I've seen estimates that there were like 20 people who can still speak Ottawa but some of them say and that's a few years at a date it's probably the last five people or something on this one reservations in the u.s. there are maybe a couple people who can still really speak Ottawa but Ottawa is probably is really facing extinction and the opportunities there to promote and promulgate and expand create a Jeb way you know now this is happening tragically in the context of genocide and colonialism however it is also true that you know for example within the history of Europe you did have the emergence of you know standard German from a plurality of German dialects you have the emergence of standard English from a plurality of English dialects and you know the specific story of Boswell and Johnson and the writing of the first popular dictionaries in English and in many centuries later the emergence of radio and television there's a lot to that story of how did stand English emerge yes it is ultimately tragic that standard Korean a cheap way have emerged in the way that they have but now in 2017 they have emerged and this we could say something similar about Mohawk specifically and the question is do we take the next step or do we keep making excuses and lying to ourselves about our own insecurities as what Canadians until these languages go extinct look bring us back to you know I like to keep it real you know I like to keep it all the way real girlfriends having a little coffee it's okay you know I see a logo so we know a white Canadian who put her daughter's into a Chinese language school Canada so why is this obviously there are white Canadians who are proud to have their white kids grow up speaking Chinese the Chinese language has some kind of prestige for them by the way I speak Chinese I'm living in China right now as I make this video you may not know this if you're watching this video for some other reason so I'm not prejudiced against the Chinese as a people or Chinese as the language okay there are other people obviously who put their kids into Jewish schools where they grow up speaking Hebrew what is this big cultural emphasis on learning Hebrew as a prestige language right and you know there are some Christians who do that also because they feel Hebrew is the the basis of the Christian tradition but obviously more common with Judaism right by the way ethnically I'm I'm half Jewish so obviously I'm not saying this out of anti-semitism okay but the question has to be asked will there ever be a time when white Canadians are proud to have their kids grow up speaking Ojibwe Mohawk Cree den a inuit inducted to it you name it are we moving towards that or not is there gonna be one school in downtown Ottawa that instead of being the English Chinese bilingual school or the English French bilingual school really is the English Creole English ative way bilingual school and where it's not something people are ashamed of in that second rate or is that is is a concession because of a reconciliation process where it's a prestige school people say yes I'm Canadian I'm part of the history of Canada I'm part of the political future of Canada and therefore I'm putting in the time and effort and money to make sure my kid grows up with some level of language ability in Korea Ojibwe that means something more than raising my kids speaking French by the way my own daughter speaks French fluently half a lot of my family relatives speak French blah blah blah French is also part of my family it's it's not that I am anti French but I am like sorry I've lived in France I might be needed but living in France would be another video but yeah oh you know French has this status of a prestige language Chinese does etc etc we need to really rien for the future and we have to recognize Canada is never gonna be New England Canada is never gonna be New France this is something of really fundamental importance and it's a positive opportunity for a future either we take advantage of it now or never well the bike
probably never had conversations like this with white people by the way I identify as a white person some people consider me non-white because I'm Jewish defense the South of France I was considered non-white but in New York City I'd be considered white anyway I've had a lot of conversations white people about First Nations languages because I formerly was a student learning Korean achieve way and basically all my life I've cared a lot about First Nations politics versus First Nations languages by which I mean Cree a jib Wade na Soto mohawk etc etc the native peoples of Canada not everyone knows that term First Nations when you talk to white people about it some of them get defensive and some of them say this in a detached way you you hear their excuses for why they personally have never studied an indigenous language I've never studied one of these languages why they would never study them why they're not teaching their kids these languages and sometimes it's stated in terms of why they don't think these languages should be taught in schools why they basically think nobody should say these languages I mean they will never stayed at that bluntly but it's often stated in terms of why they wouldn't do it and why others wouldn't couldn't shouldn't do it and I mean that's interesting and like that is already interesting people should examine what their motivations are for having those conversations with me if I told people I was studying ancient Greek I don't think I'd get a similar reaction like yeah well this is why I'd never study ancient Greek you know obviously they emotionally feel there's something they have to explain to themselves like they were born and raised in Canada they lived their whole lives in Canada and you see and feel this shadow of genocide on you this shadow of the colonial history of why Canada is the way it is why Toronto is called Toronto why Ottawa is called Ottawa you know these are native place names on the map why Saskatchewan is call Saskatchewan you know it right to some extent you know it's there and yet you never even read it Wikipedia article on it most of the time talking to people have never done like Wikipedia level reading about who are the Cree who are they Ghibli they've really lived in self-selected ignorance and I think that's why they react that way no sir I've studied a lot of languages and at one point I was actually studying modern Greek not ancient Greek but they're very similar monetary change so I told ya learning break you know and I got those reactions that obviously for several years I was studying Cambodian in several different circumstances nobody ever had this reaction like oh well I don't know I wouldn't support Cambodian being taught in the schools or like I never study and myself like you know there there was no no sense of that but even for YP of course I talked about this with with First Nations people too and their reactions are really meaningful and interesting that'd be a separate video but this obviously serves something in the white Canadian ego and you know in a sense it should Canada should be in a position to be proud of its indigenous languages and proud of its indigenous heritage instead of being ashamed of it like in a really simple sense you know I remember the last time I was in Ottawa the last two times they had this fabulous exhibition on of Inuit statuary Inuit stone sculptures fabulous and I remember looking at it and you know there really is the sense of like well this is the great Canadian art this really represents Canada now it's not only the Inuit we also have a lot of really good west coast BC indigenous Carver's if you go to have you been to Vancouver Airport think okay okay Vancouver Airport has gorgeous like large-scale statues and art by First Nations people there is this sense in which Canada even the name Canada as a First Nations word in case you haven't guessed Canada isn't uh isn't a small town in England or something you know it's not like New York it's not new Canada this is the this is the first Canada it's the only one it's not it's not like New York it's not like New England this is old Canada this is the original candidate the only one we got there is this ineluctable sense in which First Nations statuary whether it's west coast or Inuit or something represents Canada and that's never gonna change no matter how badly we manage to this up no matter how close we come to hell right genocide or the disappearance these languages it always has that it always has that gravitas it always has that significance in Canada always will and a lot of white people feel we ought to be able to be proud of this but instead we don't feel pride it's not part of a positive pan Canadian nationalism instead it's this subject of shame and excuse making and awkward rationalizations across the political spectrum left wing right wing moderate image whatever you know I find this so in terms of the actual excuses people give me for four of these languages it's interesting the number one excuse and I think this is actually imitating Australians because Australians will tell you this about native Australia this is I think they're taught this in school this is like the standard excuse in Australia is well there are so many native languages like we can't possibly learn them all rappy guess like well you know there are so many Asian languages you can't look white learn Cambodia when there are hundreds of others you don't even within Cambodia there are several language within laos we have like more than 40 languages you know than Southeast Asia we have a lot of languages so you know therefore what would be the significance of learning any one language now that is very obviously a rationalization it's very obviously nonsensical like well the fact that I can't learn in you it also makes it meaningless for me to learn Cree right so with those people again I really find they just need to read Wikipedia they often have the the the misconception that somehow each of these languages is very very localized that it can't like like you'd learn a language and would only be valid in one village or something and I just say to them well you know can you look at this Wikipedia article can you actually see the map of how much land Cree covers as a language and yes you can get into specific dialects within Cree but believe me if you speak West Cree you can learn East but their dialects of the same language they are fundamentally the same language I mean it can be hard even within England if you meet someone who really speaks British English with a well accent when you know and then you go to southeast London like you know there are there are dialect differences within the United Kingdom within England you know but um you know but still it's it's one language you know and still you mean you know whether you're looking at the contrast between swampy Kree and rocky Kree or even you know within a jib way Soto and og Kree yes there are differences but these are extra languages that now cover a huge amount of territory and this centralization and rationalization of those languages has already happened we already have a modern standard form of written Cree modern standard written a jib way that process is over so a lot of people offering this critique or excuse they're assuming that's something that happened hasn't happened yet like that the first issues languages aren't ready for the word processor and for the computer so no actually all that happened a long time ago for a bunch of different reasons but including the Christian missionaries because there were Christian missionaries who were really motivated to get the Bible written in a standard Cree standard a jib way what have you and you know yes there is more than one standard but again if you actually I mean you know there's more than one standard for German like yes there's Swiss German and there's Austrian German and there's northern German like so what does that make it harder to learn any one form of German no is it really that hard to understand Swiss German if your background is in Austrian German no so so it's an excuse making mentality and all those people I just find they're kind of one Wikipedia article away from dropping that or just looking at that map and realizing oh wow Cree is a unique opportunity for a really like pan-canadian First Nations language that's powerful and you so what have you a jib way the opportunity is a little bit different because it's really it's more in the United States than it is in Canada we have a lot of a jib way in Canada don't get me wrong but if you look at how they're distributed you know a lot of the Egypt will - south of the Great Lakes and thus is now in the United States but a jib way is also a great opportunity and again it's already been standardized there already are dictionaries and one spelling system what have you covering a huge area so this isn't a case of a lane it's only that's only seven one village so you know what's most interesting to me here are obviously are not the excuses but the underlying motivations for those excuses why is it that nobody in Ottawa speaks the Ottawa language why is it there are no street signs and if you've ever been to Ottawa they put in these enormous efforts to have French everywhere to make everything bilingual to make sure this French in English you know but there's no effort to make the Ottawa language you don't written anywhere now Ottawa is is very similar to to Cree otherwise in the Algonquian language family those are all very very similar languages Cree at Jeb way ottawa there are there others and the Ottawa language specifically it seems completely inevitable that it's gonna go extinct you know so probably the opportunity in the future will be either to have a jib way or creed written in you know in the City of Ottawa and not specifically the Ottawa language and that's very sad but again you know New York New York was the homeland of the one app a lanata was a very important language same language family Algonquin language and the opportunity to preserve Lana pay as a language is now already gone that's already extinct I've seen estimates that there were like 20 people who can still speak Ottawa but some of them say and that's a few years at a date it's probably the last five people or something on this one reservations in the u.s. there are maybe a couple people who can still really speak Ottawa but Ottawa is probably is really facing extinction and the opportunities there to promote and promulgate and expand create a Jeb way you know now this is happening tragically in the context of genocide and colonialism however it is also true that you know for example within the history of Europe you did have the emergence of you know standard German from a plurality of German dialects you have the emergence of standard English from a plurality of English dialects and you know the specific story of Boswell and Johnson and the writing of the first popular dictionaries in English and in many centuries later the emergence of radio and television there's a lot to that story of how did stand English emerge yes it is ultimately tragic that standard Korean a cheap way have emerged in the way that they have but now in 2017 they have emerged and this we could say something similar about Mohawk specifically and the question is do we take the next step or do we keep making excuses and lying to ourselves about our own insecurities as what Canadians until these languages go extinct look bring us back to you know I like to keep it real you know I like to keep it all the way real girlfriends having a little coffee it's okay you know I see a logo so we know a white Canadian who put her daughter's into a Chinese language school Canada so why is this obviously there are white Canadians who are proud to have their white kids grow up speaking Chinese the Chinese language has some kind of prestige for them by the way I speak Chinese I'm living in China right now as I make this video you may not know this if you're watching this video for some other reason so I'm not prejudiced against the Chinese as a people or Chinese as the language okay there are other people obviously who put their kids into Jewish schools where they grow up speaking Hebrew what is this big cultural emphasis on learning Hebrew as a prestige language right and you know there are some Christians who do that also because they feel Hebrew is the the basis of the Christian tradition but obviously more common with Judaism right by the way ethnically I'm I'm half Jewish so obviously I'm not saying this out of anti-semitism okay but the question has to be asked will there ever be a time when white Canadians are proud to have their kids grow up speaking Ojibwe Mohawk Cree den a inuit inducted to it you name it are we moving towards that or not is there gonna be one school in downtown Ottawa that instead of being the English Chinese bilingual school or the English French bilingual school really is the English Creole English ative way bilingual school and where it's not something people are ashamed of in that second rate or is that is is a concession because of a reconciliation process where it's a prestige school people say yes I'm Canadian I'm part of the history of Canada I'm part of the political future of Canada and therefore I'm putting in the time and effort and money to make sure my kid grows up with some level of language ability in Korea Ojibwe that means something more than raising my kids speaking French by the way my own daughter speaks French fluently half a lot of my family relatives speak French blah blah blah French is also part of my family it's it's not that I am anti French but I am like sorry I've lived in France I might be needed but living in France would be another video but yeah oh you know French has this status of a prestige language Chinese does etc etc we need to really rien for the future and we have to recognize Canada is never gonna be New England Canada is never gonna be New France this is something of really fundamental importance and it's a positive opportunity for a future either we take advantage of it now or never well the bike