New signage on the streets of Odanak and Wôlinak, introduction of a learning application, new university courses, modernization of dictionaries and toponymic autochtonization… Initiatives to revitalize the Abenaki language are increasing, to the great joy of the First Nation who are trying to use its idiom today to preserve for future generations.
Not long ago, Abenaki (or aln8ba8dawaw8gan) was spoken by more than 90% of the population of Odanak and Wôlinak, the two indigenous communities near Trois-Rivières.
“In just a few decades, we have a handful of speakers that you can count on one hand,” whispers Daniel G. Nollet, the general director of the Abénakis of Odanak Council, by phone. But our recent efforts and efforts to revitalize the language mean that Abenaki is doing better and better.
As evidence, he cites the growing number of students from across Quebec who want to learn the idiom virtually, all taught by teachers hired by the band council.
For this back-to-school event for beginner, intermediate and advanced courses, we’ve gone from about 15 in pre-pandemic years to about a hundred. “We are even planning to add an additional course for the winter session,” he says happily.
During his childhood in Odanak, Daniel G. Nolett remembers his early curiosity about his indigenous language, which was then spoken by several members of his family.
My aunt and grandfather were fluent in Abenaki. In both communities there were some who spoke it and others who did not speak it. Many people at home preferred to express themselves in French or English for economic reasons, such as finding work.
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Daniel Nolett heard Abenaki speak fluently in his youth.
Photo: Radio-Canada / David Savoie
When the United Nations General Assembly declared the period 2022-2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw global attention to the critical situation of many indigenous idioms, the Abenakis, who number around 3,000 members, felt the need to invest in this initiative.
If the predictions of international linguists are to be believed, there will soon be only a few indigenous languages spoken in Canada. Even in Quebec’s populous communities, the danger is serious, he warns.
When it comes to the disappearance of languages, the Abenakis know what it can mean for an indigenous community. It can happen very quickly. It took less than 100 years for almost all members of Odanak to no longer speak the language of their ancestors.
In Quebec it is now possible to take courses to learn the Abenaki language at both college and university levels. Philippe Charland also teaches it at the University of Sherbrooke and Bishop University in Estrie.
Although the professor is not Aboriginal, his primary interest in Abenaki toponymy leads him to teach. I started with a desire to understand place names in the indigenous language and discovered a beautiful, very descriptive phrase.
He reminds us that Abenaki, like Innu (innu-aimun), Atikamekw (atikamekw nehiromowin) or Cree (iiyiyuu ayimuun), belongs to the Algonquian language family.
It is a clear and very precise language that opens up a different perspective on the world. A number of efforts to preserve this still precarious wealth are being organized in the education sector.
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Philippe Charland developed an interest in Abenaki through his interest in toponymy.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Francis Labbé
And the interest is there, confirms the professor, who teaches the language to both indigenous people and non-indigenous people. We are seeing a real trend. In recent years, the popularity of the Abenaki language has increased. The demand from students is high and the number of their registrations is large enough to allow classes to take place.
The aim of learning the language is to be able to train future teachers, explains Mr Charland. The aim is to spread the language so that it gains momentum again, be it in communities but also from a pedagogical point of view.
Reconnect with words
“Wli wni!” says Xavier Watso in Abenaki, because thanks to the lessons he was able to regain his indigenous language. The actor, speaker and content creator speaks of a true linguistic renaissance for both himself and several other young people from both communities.
I grew up in Montreal, far from my family in Odanak. One day in my twenties, I realized that connecting to my culture and my history also had to be through language.
As Xavier Watso discovered the richness of his language, he realized that he had always been missing a part of himself. Then I started getting involved and researching Abenaki. These efforts allowed me to build strong bonds with my loved ones.
Xavier Watso’s grandmother spoke the language as a child, but during her time in boarding school she lost the words and vocabulary. The Abenaki courts gave him the opportunity to fill a gap through improvements. Today I’m very proud to say that I’m teaching it to my children again. I think it is important to prepare a new generation of speakers now.
For this reason, the Abenakis feel more than ever the urgency to preserve the language through the implementation of various projects orchestrated on multiple fronts. “We developed the dictionary by modernizing the vocabulary and grammar,” says Daniel G. Nollet, adding that a learning application for smartphones has just been released.
The case of false Abenakis who distort the language
In addition to these technological initiatives, there are significant cultural developments at the heart of the Odanak community, as the Abenaki City Council this summer unveiled new street name boards depicting place names in the Abenaki, French and English languages, as well as pictograms symbolizing their meaning.
“We highlight our language to reflect its meaning,” explains Daniel G. Nollet. We also want to show that we are the only guardians of our ancestral language.
The Director General is referring here to a new threat that endangers the practice and even the future of the language, he assures. As such, he points to the self-proclaimed Abenaki communities in Vermont in the United States, whose legitimacy he rejects. While they try to appropriate our identity, they are now perverting our language.
In the 1970s, the controversial Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi (NAM) emerged, based in Swanton in Franklin County, he continues. Since then, around ten different entities have emerged in this American state.
They came to us in Odanak so that we could teach them our culture and our language. But at some point they were asked where they came from and who their ancestors were, but none of them managed to identify with an Abenaki family, he says.
Daniel G. Nollet explains that these so-called Abenaki groups in Vermont have severed their ties with communities in Quebec. We no longer exist for them because they want to replace us. Meanwhile, they distort our history and our cultural practices.
These people also distort our language by speaking it with a strong American accent or by not knowing the linguistic heritage, while Abenaki has its own pronunciation that is several millennia old.
The Director General confirms that the revival of the language is also part of the desire to assert one’s identity.
We, the oldest among us, were lucky to have heard the language. We have a verbal reference. “We are the ones who control it, so we will not let anyone steal it from us to adulterate it,” he concludes.