Stoney Nakoda language being preserved through new educational resource
Preserving the Stoney Nakoda language is the purpose behind a new resource created by the Stoney Education Authority (SEA) with support from The Language Conservancy.
Already in use at four schools — two in Morley, Alta., one in the Municipal District of Bighorn and one in Eden Valley — the resource includes three picture books, a Level 1 textbook, and an alphabet colouring book, along with a 9,000-word web and mobile dictionary, a textbook-accompanying media player app, and a vocabulary-building app.
The resource was crafted over the last two years, involving about 50 elders from three area First Nations — the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley — along with support workers and linguists.
"It will help (students) with their hearing and speech as well because the recordings are of our elders," said Cherith Mark, cultural and language coordinator for the Stoney Education Authority.
"What's so great about this is it's a new way of learning language. They'll be able to converse with a language speaker."
A majority of community members over about age 30 can speak the Stoney Nakoda language, said Mark.
"I would say there is about probably 5,000 (people) in this community so there is a few thousand," she said. "There are actually quite a few people working on preserving the language, not just through SEA."
Putting together a project of this scope can be difficult, and even more so when it's done during a global pandemic.
The usual route would be to bring speakers together and record them, but things had to be done remotely.
"A lot of it was online, and some of it was in small groups, after vaccinations were happening," said Mark.
This was the first resource created by the community, but Mark says it won't be the last.
"These new resources are just the first step in a multi-year project, and the next step of resources are already being developed," she said.
"A student dictionary, a Level 2 textbook, a podcast series, and continued dictionary updates are currently in the works."
The resource will also be made available to Albertans interested in learning more about the Stoney Nakoda language and more information can be found by contacting the Stoney Education Authority.
The Language Conservancy (TLC) is a non-profit organization that supports Indigenous language revitalization by developing programs, materials, and technologies in partnership with Indigenous communities.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.