Metis trying to save traditional language

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The traditional Metis language of Michif is on the verge of extinction.

This unique and little known language is now under study by the Metis National Council which wants to reverse the pattern of assimilation by developing an action plan for Michif's survival.

Guy Freedman, director of special projects fort he MNC, heads the study with the help of Canada's foremost expert on Michif, Audreen Hourie, the provincial education co-ordinator for the Manitoba Metis Federation.

The word Michif comes from an Indian pronunciation of the French word metis which means half-breed, said Freedman, a Metis from Northern Manitoba.

"Michif is essentially a mixture of French and Cree," he said. It is considered a rare phenomenon because the people that developed this language would have been completely bilingual.

The language is still used quite commonly in the U.S., primarily in North Dakota, said Freedman. But its usage is limited in Canada. In northern Alberta the language is called Metis Cree. In the east, Ojibwa is incorporated into Michif.

In Canada, however, there are only a relative few who still speak the language, a fact Freedman finds discouraging.

"If you don't speak it, if you don't know about it, if you don't understand it and you can't find people who are able to talk it, it's not going to be around."

Freedman said he would like to see Native groups take a page from the notebook of the Inuit who are very successful in passing down their language to their children.

"By and large, they rely on Inuit specific programming. They get everything translated into Inuktitut. The parents still speak it to their kids. The kids, if they want to speak to their grandparents, have to speak it. A lot of Aboriginal groups could learn from that. Otherwise they are only going to be reading about it in history.

To further complicate matters for the study, Michif is not a written language. It causes problems for the whole Metis movement, Freedman said.

The report is to be done and submitted to the government by the end of the month. The report will be a combination of historical and practical information that may halt Michif's decline into oblivion.