Cassandra Spade is a grassroots human rights activist, who champions Indigenous language revitalisation in Canada, who participated in the UN Incomindios Youth Programme. She kindly agreed to speak to us about her experience on the programme and GAAM, a project designed to revitalise the Anishnaabe language.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. How did find out about the UN Incomindios Youth program, and what did you think about participating in it?
I hadn’t heard of the UN Incomindios Youth Programme, until I was contacted by an elder, Anna-Betty, who had been contacted by Vivian, another elder, who had worked with Incomindios. Vivian had seen me speaking about Indigenous issues on social media, and mentioned this programme to Anna-Betty, who called me on Valentine’s Day to let me know the opportunity was there to be taken, and told me I should apply for it. My community is very interconnected, and we try to nurture and support each other’s gifts when we see them, so I was honoured to receive this call. I applied, was accepted, and became part of the first group to participate in the Youth programme. It was my first instance of international advocacy, and I am grateful that Incomindios ensured that I could wholeheartedly participate in an event that would come to mean a lot to my future work.
What was your experience as a UN Youth Delegate?
It was a very hands-on learning experience for me. I hadn’t, as of yet, started my advocacy for Indigenous languages, which was the theme of 2019 programme at the UN. It introduced me to these issues and gave me a crash-course in what was going on in this realm of advocacy. I attended side panels at the event and learned many things, including how to get a message across in the most effective manner. I networked, not only with Canadian politicians, but with global Indigenous youth, exchanging ideas and experiences. What stands out is the panel I attended on Indigenous languages, run by Chief Littlechild, who spoke about the revitalisation of Indigenous languages. It gave me new ideas of what I should be working and definitely aided and influenced the work I now engage in.
Could you tell us more about GAAM, its goals, and how Incomindios has been involved in the work you have been doing?
GAAM is a grassroots, non-incorporated group, run by volunteers, that engages youth in the revitalisation of the Anishinaabe language. There are four main methods we use to do this; free language classes, immersion classes, book redistribution and transcription.
Our free language classes are just that; free instruction on Anishnaabe language to introduce people to all the components they need to be able to use that language. Immersion classes teach both crafts and language; we create books and engage in other traditional crafts, while talking in Anishinaabe, passing on traditions and language at the same time (to watch Cassandra lead a book-making class, follow the link here). Our book redistribution programme aims to gather and spread Anishinaabe language books across the province, to encourage people to engage in the language in its written form. Our transcription programme records our elders telling their stories, so that future generations can know what life used to be like first-hand, and have a direct link to the past. Altogether, we hope that, through these programmes, Indigenous youth will be encouraged to take up, maintain and be proud of the Anishinaabe language.
Cassandra Spade (on the right), teaching a class.
Incomindios has been there with GAAM from the conceptual stage of the project, and through every stage, from launch until today. They have always been there as a supporter and cheerleader; a wonderful connection that has helped us on our pathway to success so far.
You learned Anishinaabe as an adult – how did you find studying a language at this point in your life?
I began studying Anishnaabe in my mid-20’s. Everyone on my father’s side of the family spoke it, but I didn’t, which isn’t unusual when thinking about the Indian Boarding School Policy, that stifled learning the language.
As with the UN Incomindios Youth programme opportunity, an elder approached me, taking me under their wing, beginning my journey of learning. They told me something that I’ve always kept in mind – ‘If you take care of the Anishnaabe language, it will take care of you’.
Learning Anishnaabe opened me up to a world that had always been around me, but that I couldn’t access. It linked me more deeply to my culture, heritage, to my surroundings, and even my own family. My great-grandmother only spoke Anishnaabe and not being to speak with her directly meant I was missing on the poetic, profound and hilarious person that I found out she is. Such experiences have rooted me in place in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and bonded me more closely to what I hold dear.
Anishnaabe brings a sense of community, a community that takes care and nurtures each other. It’s why the immersive classes that we hold are intergenerational. We want to show the youth how to engage in intergenerational learning, and to encourage those relationships that were once naturally part of their lives, and can be so again. In doing so, they too will understand how Anishnaabe can take care of them, as it has done so for me.
You are also a teacher at GAAM. How has been, transitioning from being a student to being a teacher?
Well, I’m still a student, at law school, which is crazy – there’s always a lot to be done. But teaching at GAAM re-energises me to keep going as it reminds me of why I started to study law.
Indigenous languages across Canada are at risk of extinction in the next few decades, and heritage, stories and communities will be lost along with it. In order to prevent that, it’s necessary to engage not only activism that promotes language revitalisation, but also policies and legislation, federally or provincially, that do the same. This is why I study law, so that I can be a part of those conversations and further the revitalisation of the Anishnaabe language, and help with the revitalisation of other Indigenous languages.
So I’m still both a teacher and student, and I haven’t really transitioned from one to another. And as an Anishnaabe proverb says, I never will. ‘Every teacher is a learner, and every learner is a teacher’. It’s a cycle that continues, and that I hope will continue to do so, to become the best I can be with my work and life in general.
To find out more about GAAM, follow the link here.
To find out more about the UN Incomindios Youth Programme, follow the link here.
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