Group works on saving languages at Rocky Boy

Mahchiwminahnahtik Chippewa and Cree Language Revitalization, or MCCLR, is working as a non-profit on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation to breathe new life in the tribe’s native languages.

“It’s exciting, it’s really exciting,” MCCLR President Dustin Whitford said. “We do need to do something before it’s too late.”

The Chippewa Cree Tribal Business Committee unanimously passed a resolution Aug. 9 declaring a state of emergency for the reservation’s native languages, he said. MCCLR had written the resolution after months of meetings and discussions on the importance of the native languages in addition to some of the issues the reservation faces.

Whitford said that the issue was first brought up during a Business Committee meeting in February by Brenda St. Pierre, an elementary school teacher who teaches the Cree language and is the MCCLR vice president. He said that she wanted the Business Committee to establish a subcommittee that would focus on efforts by the tribe to save the language. He added that the Business Committee took no action at that time, but because of St. Pierre, he and a few other community members started meeting to discuss the issue. These meetings eventually turned into the non-profit MCCLR, which has seven members on the board. 

He said it is critical to start focusing on teaching the native languages to the younger generation. As time goes on, the few fluent speakers are growing older and dying, taking their knowledge of the languages with them. He added that MCCLR estimated Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation only has a handful of people who can speak the languages somewhat fluently. 

“So with all of that, there is a huge concern throughout the community,” he said.

He added that they have also noticed an increase in interest from the youth to learn the traditional language, ceremonies and customs, but it is all dependent on the language. 

“Without the language, there is no ceremonies, no traditions, no customs,” he said.

These could be translated into English but much cannot be translated and would be lost, he said.

“Our group is just very thankful that our tribal leaders are supporting us,” Whitford said. “Along with the community and the Cree speakers who are in support of what we are doing, who have encouraged us, who have given us positive feedback, even some constructive criticism and hopefully our efforts will pay off in the future.”

MCCLR member Jason Belcourt said that Whitford and St. Pierre approached him a few months ago and told him about the concept of the group. He said he is very honored and excited to be part of the group, adding that it is addressing something desperately needed in the community.

Historically, Native people have been pushed to the brink of losing their culture, he said. Tribal people would often be penalized for speaking their languages and practicing their ways, he added.

“Today, we are sitting here with just a handful of what we had in terms of our riches, in terms of our ways, our culture, our language,” Belcourt said. “So for this to come along, I think it’s at the right time and the right place.” 

He added that he believes many of the social ills which plague Native people, such as drug addiction and alcoholism, are due to the loss of their language.

“Once we lose our identity, we don’t know how to function,” he said. 

He said MCCLR member Merle Tendoy spoke at the Business Committee meeting earlier this month and informed the committee of the importance of languages.

Tendoy said, first in the Cree language then in English, “Our ancestors brought us to the Bear Paw Mountains, our home, to practice and perpetuate our God-given languages and ceremonies. We need to do this for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and their children.”

Belcourt said that, since the last committee meeting, a lot of excitement has generated in the community about the MCCLR, with a number of people calling wanting to know how they can be involved.

“We need to hold on to it, it’s who we are,” he said. “… Our spirit is yearning for that language.”

Whitford said MCCLR Secretary Beau Mitchell asked the board during one of its meetings, “What do you consider success from our efforts in the future? What do you consider would be success from what we are trying to do right now?”

William The Boy, who was in the audience, said he would consider it a success when one of his grandchildren’s first languages was Cree. Whitford added that it was a powerful message.

Whitford said a number of efforts have been made in the past to teach the languages, but many of those efforts were unsuccessful and didn’t properly handle the issue. He added that some people may be afraid of learning the language or are discouraged or afraid of making a mistake. But the MCCLR will be a centralized place, working alongside with the tribal government to conduct studies and classes for people. 

The name Mahchiwminahnahtik is a Cree name for Hunting Berry Tree, who was a man who was gifted in the Cree writing system, Whitford said. He added that, after prayer, the MCCLR decided on the name as the name for their group with hopes of gifting the capability to relearn their languages and be able to pass it on.

He said that Oct. 1, the MCCLR plans to hire their first employee, an executive director whose duties will include grant writing, reaching out to different foundations for projects and reaching out to universities and educational institutions to assist in data collection.

“We want to collect data in a respectful way,” Whitford said.

He added that in the past it has been an issue with data being made public outside of the reservation, and that some of the data is sensitive and should only be shared with tribal members. He said they will try to develop a methodology which would respectfully collect data and successfully store it so it can be utilized.

The MCCLR also plans to utilize an elder advisory committee to determine what information can be made public outside of the tribe, he said. They also plan to partner with Stone Child College to aid in the data collection.

He said that, in the future, the MCCLR would like to employ two language technicians who will help with research and data collection and teaching the language.

Another initiative already in the process is making it so tribal employees, such as those at the tribal clinic, will be able to utilize their break period for learning languages. 

“There is a lot of excitement about it,” Whitford said.