 Hello, my name is Andrew Carrier. I'm the Vice President for the Winnipeg METI Association. I'm also the Minister for the Mitchiff Language with the Manitoba METI Federation for the Winnipeg Regional. First of all, I grew up here in St. Boniface. Having family in San Luis, Manitoba, I had the opportunity to visit my uncle and cousins who spoke Mitchiff and had an opportunity to practice. I went when I was younger to speak Mitchiff and really think it's a beautiful language. I know it's a beautiful language. It's very colorful and it's very distinct from any other language. Yes, well as I was saying earlier, I went to school here in St. Vitale and I've experienced, my experience in the early ages in grade one was very difficult because the Catholic school had their definition of what children should speak and they spoke the French language. Unfortunately, the Mitchiff language was deemed unacceptable and we were punished by the grade one teachers for speaking our language. I remember getting hit quite a few times for proper pronunciation of the ruling or orders and so on and forbidden to speak the Mitchiff language. It's really sad that my grandfather spoke Mitchiff, my father spoke Mitchiff, I understood Mitchiff and what is really sad is that my children, my boys who are no adults, have never heard the language and we never had an opportunity to practice it because it wasn't taught in the schools and our parents, none of the Mitchiff language that we were, we had hidden our Métis identity. Well as the Minister for Mitchiff, we're in the process of doing a lot of research and capturing our Mitchiff language. We've done audio videos of Mitchiff speakers from Saint-Doustache, from Turtle Mountains, as well as from Saint-Lenis. We understand that each community has a little bit of a dialect. Some have a lot more French words while others have other Indigenous words in the Mitchiff language, whether it be Cree or Soto. But the Mitchiff language is one language with different dialects and we are in a process of recording all that. We've worked with different groups to capture the Mitchiff language by creating a dictionary. The most recent one was in Saint Laurent, where the ladies of Saint Laurent were able to sit together and capture some of the Mitchiff words and sayings. As well, we have different dictionaries from the Garibaldumande Institute, as well as from different researchers. So we're working a lot with our Prairie provinces and capturing the Mitchiff language right now. And it was studied and it's one of the more younger languages. I would say it's about 200 years old, where other languages are thousands of years in the making. But ours is one of the more genuine, homemade or pre-made languages. For the last several years, our biggest challenge was to capture the different words in Mitchiff and the application of the language. So some of the challenges is how do we change, go from capturing in a dictionary in a written format to a live usage of the language in an active setting. So whether it be in an office or commercial fishing or hunting, what would be great to hear. The challenge is that we have individual different Métis people using regaining strength in the Mitchiff language. What's most important for the next generation is the opportunity to hear and appreciate that their grandfathers and their grandmothers who lived in Manitoba for the last 200-300 years and the generations that the love and Métis culture is really important. And to realize that being Métis today is to accept your whole background. So if you're a French and Mitchiff speaking, we have a lot of French influence, but we have to respect the fact that we are here today because of our Métis roots as well. So we need to recognize what that is and be proud of that. As the Minister of Mitchiff Languages, we're really working towards, first of all, implementing the Mitchiff language of the early childhood education level. We're looking at trying to implement the Mitchiff languages in daycare centers and so on and so forth. We have children's books that are written in English and the Mitchiff language. And so there's an opportunity for the readers to practice, to read to the children and so to start to hear and understand the Mitchiff language also. We have videos, games and songs in the chip that are available. And we're really, really looking forward for the kickoff, if you wish, to start implementing the Mitchiff language. It's really, it's been years in the making and we're, as Métis people, we're regaining our pride of who we are. My vision for Indigenous as well as Mitchiff culture is not to rewrite history, but to give a proper recognition of the contribution that the Métis have done here in Manitoba. We, in Western Manitoba, are a predominant factor on the prairies and what we're looking at is really trying to implement self-identity as well as identify what is the Métis culture. Because you've got to remember for the last three generations, at least or more, we have been in hiding. And so, like jigging and fiddle playing, which are truly the cornerstones of our Mitchiff language for entertainment, have been in hiding and because society, when it comes to Indigenous and the Métis, have always seen us not in a good way. So, we really need to show to ourselves to regain that pride. I'm looking forward to having the Mitchiff language in a public light, like in a movie or on the radio, to make it because it's a beautiful language and we need to preserve it.