 Hello, my name is Simon Francis. I'm from Indian Brook, Nova Scotia. I'm going to be talking about the Mi'kmaq Go-To-Person program. We're doing its online program now. It's from the Mi'kmaq Heritage Restoration Association by Delina Pettipaw now. It's fun. Curtis is the instructor, Curtis Michael, and we got to do online videos. We were given a lesson, and we got to do it online, that video, and we got to put it on this website. It's a secret website. There's 23 people from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, P.E.I., who selected for this program. It's a Go-To program, and I'm what considers the right person to for this program because a lot of people come up to me for Mi'kmaq words because I was around it. I grew up with it. My mother, my father, my grandfather was all fluid, and they really influenced me when I was young. I learned it from I was three years old right up to I was, oh, I took care of my mother until she passed away, until she was 82. I was still learning, and it's still a learning process today. I grabbed my my dictionaries, and I'm looking at them every night, and I was like, wow, I didn't know that. That's just extension of words. I said, oh, I knew that, but I didn't know how it was spelled, and simple things like now, I don't have to run to the books now when I want to stop right on Mi'kmaq online. I got it all in my mind. I knew how to spell it out. Like, uh, kueh, emsit nogama, hello all my relations, and well, the exit book, how good, good morning, and stuff like that, little things. You know, just something to say Mi'kmaq in the morning. I won't say nothing in English until I write something Mi'kmaq every morning, but that's, that's me. But now this lady even come up, she goes, you inspire me because you write your language, and that inspires me to learn my language, and she's 57 years old, and I'm 54, and I was like, wow. And there's people like from my mother's hometown, and they're in their 60s, and they don't know their language. It surprised me, and I'm in 54, and I know a lot more because I was exposed to it as a younger person, and taking a course, and I took a course in 2017 for a six-month course with Curtis, and it really opened my eyes. I was like, wow, he say one word. I was like, wow. I said, I've never heard this word since I was three years old, and I was like, and it just opened a new world to me. And I was like, it was just a new world, a whole new world, language. But it was always there in the back of my mind, and I just kind of put it on hold. But nowadays, I got people coming up, we got worded a day. They play, I play worded a day of our band office with a secretary, a part-time secretary. I'll go in there, well, the Exit Book, I'm in the medallion, now where they belong, and we'll play, hello, how are you doing? I'm doing fine, you know. It's a nice day, we'll say that, or we play worded a day. And she goes, what's a worded a day? I now look outside, it's misty, or ill-naked, foggy, or wellie-kisco, it's sunny. And she goes, wow. And now she's, now when I go in there, I find she's speaking Miigma to me. I was like, and these are my dreams to keep our language going. And I find my dreams are coming true now. And it's surprising, it's eye-opening for people. And this girl, she's in almost her 60s, and she's starting to learn now. And they told me, and people told me, wow, so you're a mother, you learn good from me, mother. I said, yeah, thank you. I said, I was surprised, that really surprised me, I actually learned. It was a plan in life, I think, to keep me, keep the language going. And I still have my nephew and his niece, my niece, his daughter come in. Uncle Muccas, no more this, and medallion uncle Muccas, hello, how are you doing uncle? And things like that, they're speaking their language. And I was like, wow, and they're learning it from me. Or when I leave, I said, um, what's the word today? And the mother said, they said, what's that mean? See you all later. Things, little things like that, but they're learning. But I'll throw a word out there, throw no word out there, every time I get them. And we call it word today. It's these games we play with the family and they love it. But things like that, we need more education, more programs, things like Curtis, the six month programs, but commitment and space. That's one thing we do not have. You got to be committed right from the beginning. I mean, I was loved it. I mean, I was committed right from the beginning to this program. I was there every week. You know, it was, I opened it. I mean, because I didn't forget the language. I thought I forgot it, but I didn't. Like Curtis has this, uh, Pictionary Games for adults. That's excellent. I mean, even teenagers, it's got like, uh, a picture of a, uh, bar of soap in a bed, um, sleeping bed. And that means soap bed, which means hungover or things, simple things like that. And, and just words that they, in games and it makes us fun. Get them out of the classroom, get them in a home. Don't get them in the classroom, especially with adults. They do not like the classroom. Make it a home environment, coffee there, make a little lunch, make a flower Indian bread, invite everybody in, make it family settings. But you got to get them out of the classroom for learning because that's not the whole place to learn for adults. That's what I found. We had a hard time with that. In our program right now, it seems to be from anywhere in the mid 30s to 60, 70s, all age, right around. And our go to the language person and then make my go to the language person is, it's all everybody. Everybody's learning that the same process, but it's, everybody's at different points. Like I'm at a different point than these guys because it's just all natural to me. I find, even being Curtis, we're talking at it. He goes, you're pretty fast at these lessons. I said, it's all natural because boom, boom, boom, boom, I can shoot her right out and I record it and put it online. Now I'm done. I don't have to worry about it and wait for the next lesson to come out. But we need more programs, more programs like that. We have a secret group and Curtis would come up and he'll show a video, word video, word video, and we got to pronounce these words. Then he'll, now he's getting the omit endings and we got to do a homework and we got to find the right endings and add it. Like S-B, S-B or S-B, that's hot, I'm hot and certain things like it. Little things that S-B add a I-T or E-N or N to different endings, make it add a different language, different word, different endings. Now we're getting things like that more, he's adding homework now. I was like, but it's fun. It's all fun. And he goes, you're getting faster, but I love it this way. You got to love it. You got to be committed to do it. Like the like button, love button. Everybody comments, wow, you're doing good on these videos. I mean, geez, the process is good. I love it because all your technique is beautiful. We need more of this. I love it. I love to see your technique in the classroom. And it's simple things like that, encouragement. And we have, everybody has a chance to put their own videos like we have till February 5th for lesson six, but I would put mine on because I'm like that. I'll just get it done like that. So I don't have to worry about it. But it's a success. I find it's in different levels. Everybody has their struggles and some of them find it easy. But like one lady's last comment, she goes, oh, I had a little hard time with this lesson, but I need more practice. That's all because she's not exposed to it. She's in town. She's in town material. Like I'm exposed to it. I'm always online talking. Curtis, Curtis is the word online chatting in Mi'kmaq. He's a phone call away. I go to my brother's and he's talking to Mi'kmaq. And we're comparing from the Mi'klish now. What they're speaking out there now is Mi'klish. What I learned was the old way. My grandfather was born in 1886. And I learned his way. And my father's way, my mother's way. And that was the old way. Like for say no, nowadays they go moho. But I was taught moho. Like my grandfather, that's the old way. But either way is acceptable nowadays. But we know one is Mi'klish automatic. But it's still all, it's changing. But I don't like to change. I would still stop on the original way. We're exposing techniques. Techniques and more like pronunciation. Different pronunciations. You got to get the blends. Once you get the blends in, like the T, the T sounds like a D. The K sounds like a G. And things like that. It's no problem. You can pronounce anywhere. You can read it. It's once you get the blends and how the words sound, the pronunciation, you can, it's easier to read. And now I just, when I do my homework, I write it down. Then I got to expand it. I expanded. I do it all on one page and I make my video. And currently we were talking and he goes, then he goes, you're fast. He goes, you do these videos, you know, it's just like nothing. I said, wow, I love it. He goes, you got to love what you're doing. And it's just come natural. I even told it's all natural. It gives me something to look forward to. People even, I'm the go-to person. I actually, I'm the go-to person. I got messages. A lady was doing a painting. She wanted to learn a word. I get a message. I said, no, I'll send a message out and send the word out. Next year, you know, she sends me a painting with the word on it. I was like, wow. I was like, oh my God, it's beautiful. Her language is beautiful. You can even paint it on a picture. And it means things. And so a buddy was walking his dog. And I said, what's your dog's name? He goes, Misty. I said, oh, Messier Walk. He goes, what's that mean? I said, that's Misty. He goes, that's beautiful. Can you write that and make him out for me? So I said, come on in. So I wrote it on a piece of paper. He goes, I'm going to take that to my wife. And so he goes, that's all they called her dog now, Messier Walk. And meet him up. Because she goes, my wife goes, Missier Walk. And boy, she comes running now. I was talking to him. And he goes, I said, you still call her that? You Missier Walk? I said, yeah. That's most probably about six months now. Simple things like that. It makes me happy. Even on my knees. She goes, when I'm talking now, in Mi'gma, she goes, I remember that uncle. I remember that school uncle. I said, wow. I said, I said, we remember your chance. And I was exposed to chance, making my chance when I was young. I was like, and I'm just getting learned and learning them now. And it opens my eyes. I never heard these since I was like four or five years old. And it's a new beginning. Our language is a high priority. I mean, I want to see that go in places. When you call in public, Que Medaulain, hello, how are you doing? I like to see places like that in public. Now they're doing that to band office. There's one, that part-time secretary, she always write on it. She's on it, man. And she talks Mi'gma to me all right off. And I was like, wow, I was like, it's, you know, it's funny going places, our language. And she's there learning up there. That's just from a minute's point. And she whispers my ear and she's, what's up? I've got her, I got to learn. She wanted to, I was at New Year's, New Year's powwow. And she whispers my ear. How do you say, I want to wish you happy New Year's? I said, okay. And so it's either way. I'm so when she was, what did you say? I said, I like to wish you happy New Year's everybody. She's, wow, she's, I just learned I never knew that. And I said, it's simple things like that. How do you learn? Ask questions. Ask questions. And I learned that from my grandfather when I was six years old. When, what that word I, what I just said. Our culture bead, and my mother was a big beader. Oh, she was good with her hands. I mean, she did the beadwork like rose, non-fabric, like straight loom, everything. She worked with her hands. She did everything. She cooked. She was, she made pies, pies. Everybody loved her pies. Oh my God, she was best. And she, she learned. She taught people that little girls how to dance. Me, my dance, because she was brought up around that. She had, she made, they made their own dresses, leather dresses, leather gowns, and everything, hell with leather. They got together at groups every week. My mom, my mom and the girls, the little girls, and we still got pictures of them. And all the little girls in their leather dresses, and they, she took them out to dance for people. And they had fun. And, you know, it was part of her growing up. And they remember that today. They said, we had fun with your mom. So, you know, I mean, she taught us a lot. I was like, wow, you remembered all that. She made these leather dresses for us and took us everywhere to dance. And I said, yeah, I know, I know. She did that. I didn't think you guys would remember, though. And this is maybe 20, 30 years later, 20, 35 years later. And they're still remembering this. I love it to see it more, more programs, even in the, like, off the reserve. There's like, we have one native lady who goes off the reserve in local schools. She maybe once or twice a week. But I like to see programs offered every day. A Mickey Mouse program in our local schools, like Dawn Reserve programs. We have it every day, that they're exposed to the language in there. Right from the Head Start kindergarten preschool, right from grade 12, one right to kindergarten, right to grade 12, they're exposed to language on the reserve. I like to see this off the reserve. Now they're maybe, they're lucky to be exposed to once, once a week, once a month. I like to be exposed more. We need more exposure for our language and our culture. Because I learned, in the 70s, going to elementary, and I still remember my, my lessons from a lady coming in. And that was, it was stuck right to me, what, what I learned. And it helped me, lady coming in, elder coming in from the, from our local res, coming to our schools, off the reserve. Because I, I did the day school too, and I did the off-reschool. But I learned a lot from her when she came in. And I still remember that day.