Unit 2 Culture and Language

Lesson One: Essential Concepts

Culture What is culture? Write a definition in your binders. A people’s shared way of thinking and acting. A people’s culture includes their language, knowledge and beliefs, laws and moral values, customs and traditions, art and music – and all other aspects of their life which have been developed socially. People take their own culture for granted and may not realize how it affects their thinking and behavior.

Ethnocentrism the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture often entails the belief that one's own race or ethnic group is the most important and/or that some or all aspects of its culture are superior to those of other groups

Story – Sacred Cows in India

Review Define Culture What are three elements of culture? Define Ethnocentrism

Assimilation The process through which culture is “lost” or “stolen.” The integration of a group/person into another so that differences are minimized or eliminated. Assimilation may be voluntary, or forced.

How is the following reading on the previous Slide an example of: Ethnocentrism? Assimilation?

Ethnocentrism and Assimilation In the late 1800s the Canadian government believed that the best way to deal with Aboriginal people was to “make them white”. They believed that this could be achieved if children were removed from their families and sent to residential schools. At these boarding schools, which were run by the federal government and the church, Aboriginal children were forced to speak English, practice Christianity, learn western trades, and surrender their Aboriginal culture. Residential schools were common into the 1950s and are cited as one of the main reasons that many Aboriginal languages and traditions are in jeopardy today.

Contact and Cultural Conflict We are going to view the video titled, “Native Americans Today.” This video focuses on what happened to Native American culture when contact occurred between Europeans and Native Americans. It is very important to remember that, while the focus of the video is Native American culture, many of the issues apply directly to the reality of Aboriginal people in Canada at the time as well. Please pay close attention to what Native American culture was like pre-contact and post-contact. (Video – 27:15) Complete the worksheet you have been given as you watch the film. We will go over the worksheet together when the film has finished.

Photographs as Evidence of Local Wabanaki Culture. Using the images that you see in your handout, determine what elements of Aboriginal culture are being revealed. Remember, a people’s culture includes their language, knowledge and beliefs, laws and moral values, customs and traditions, art and music – and all other aspects of their life which have been developed socially. We will go over each example together when the activity has been completed.

Assignment – Cultural Evidence What is happening in the picture? When was the picture taken? Who is present? Who is not present? What is the setting for the picture? What has changed since the picture was taken? What has remained the same since the picture was taken? Check for the following elements of culture in the photograph Knowledge/Beliefs Laws/Moral Values Customs/Traditions Art/Music

Review Language is part of culture Language reveals something about a culture – what they knew and believed. Reading (Norman’s Model Dogsled). What does this reveal about Norman’s culture? The story “Glooscap and ‘It-Is-Windy’” revealed that the Maliseet people were in tune with the natural world around them; they knew that in order for the environment to be balanced, certain elements needed to exist, such as the wind. No wind meant stagnant water. There are 5 Aboriginal language “families” in Canada. The Wabanaki belong to the Algonquian language family. The Micmac and Maliseet spoke different languages. The Maliseet and Passamaquoddy spoke the same language.

Relative of the Wabanaki Kluscap: Relative of the Wabanaki

Kluscap What do you know about Kluscap? Record information in your binders. Share your information with the class

Kluscap A relative of all Wabanaki people Warm and generous to the Wabanaki There are three eras of Kluscap, simply called the First, Second and Third Era.

Kluscap and It Is Windy Turn to page 11 of textbook Follow along as I read the story aloud. Complete the following: What lesson might be learned from the story of Wocawson about people’s relationship and the environment? What might Kluscap be teaching by untying just one of Wocawson’s wings?

First Era of Kluscap Animals, including terrifying monsters dominated the earth. People were insignificant

Second Era of Kluscap This era is marked by the arrival of the Transformer – Kluscap – who banished the monsters and readied the earth for people: Drained a lake to create the Annapolis Valley Dug Minas Basin with his canoe paddle People and animals spoke the same language. People and animals could change forms back and forth. Kluscap lived among the people, teaching them how to live as truly human beings: Hunting and fishing The names of the stars and constellations This era is beyond memory but is kept alive in oral tradition.

Third Era of Kluscap This era is marked by the departure of Kluscap Kluscap now lives in a distant place and it is said that he will return when his people need him. People and animals could no longer communicate The separation between animals and people gradually increased. People and animals can no longer transform

Reading When Kluscap Left the Earth (Part I) page 92 When Kluscap Left the Earth (Part II) page 94-94

Written Records as Evidence Much of what we know today about the traditional stories, myths and legends of the Mi’kmaq originate with books published in the late 1800s by a Nova Scotia Baptist missionary clergyman, Silas Tertius Rand. Rand was an accomplished linguist and became fluent in Mi’kmaq. The stories Rand documented were all told to him in Mi’kmaw, which he then translated and wrote down in English. To increase their accuracy, he then read the translated stories back to the storyteller.

Group Project You will now complete a group project Each group will be given a different legend about Glooscap and the Wabanaki people Your group’s task: Read the legend silently together Present the legend to the class in a meaningful way so that the class will remember the significant people and events. Options include a performance, creating a visual storyboard, puppet show, etc. You will have two classes to prepare this presentation

Lesson 2 – The Maliseet Language

Language “Language is the most important factor in learning about, becoming part of, and maintaining a culture's way of life.”

Language Families of Canada Differences in language develop over time. As time goes by and people change, so too does pronunciation, word-use and accent. As people move away from the region, their ways of speaking become more and more unlike. If enough time passes, these dialects may develop into a difference language, but remain related to one another in a language family. As a general rule if speakers can still understand one another it is still the same language, when they can no longer understand one another then it develops into it’s own language within that family

Aboriginal Language Families in Canada When Europeans first came to North America, there were more than 300 Native languages being spoken . The Native language families of Canada include: Eskimo-Aleut Athabaskan Siouan Iroquoian Algonquian

Native languages of Canada When Europeans arrived there were more than 300 Native languages in Canada. Some are lost forever, but some still survive and some are still going extinct Across the continent there are several language families. British Columbia is home to the most amount of language families because it was the last province to be colonized and is very secluded.

Native language families East of the Rocky Mountains There are only 5 language families east of the Rocky Mountains. Eskimo-Aleut- Many people still use the word Eskimo but the preferred word is Inuit for the North West Territories and Inuvialuit in the Yukon. It is spoken across the Artic, Labrador, Greenland, the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and Siberia The language of the Inuit is called Inuktitut It is one of the world’s primary languages

Athabaskan: It is spoken in the northern parts of the prairie provinces, in some of the Territories and parts of the south western Unites States There are 53 languages in this family It is sub-divided into Northern Athabaskan, Pacific Coast Athabaskan and Southern Athabaskan Languages in this family include Beaver, Chipewyan, Apache and Navaho

Siouan: It is a language of the Great Plains, and is spoken in Southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ohio and Mississippi It is sub-divided into Catawban in the East and Siouan proper in the West It used to consist of 20 languages but 11 are now extinct Languages within this family are Crow, Hidatsa, Mandan, Dakotan, Winnebago, and Dhegihan The Canadian Siouan languages are Crow, Assiniboine, Dakota and Stoney

Iroquoian: These languages are spoken in southern Ontario, Quebec, New York, Oklahoma, and North Carolina All Iroquoian language except for Mohawk in Quebec and the Cherokee of Oklahoma are severely endangered if not extinct. It is sub-divided into Northern Iroquoian and Cherokee Of the Northern Iroquoian language family’s 19 languages, 8 are extinct and 6 nearly extinct and 3 are severely endangered Languages within this family are Mohawk, Cherokee, Huron, Oneida, Onondaga, and Tuscarora

Algonquian Language Family All Wabanaki groups are Algonquian - speaking. The Maliseet and Micmac languages are similar, but overwhelmingly different. Maliseet language is often called Maliseet-Passamaquoddy because the two languages are so similar, with only minor differences in dialect.

Algonquian: It is the most extensive language spoken all across Canada, all along the east Coast of Canada from Quebec, NB, to the Carolinas and the Mississippi Basin. The most widely spoken Algonquian language is Cree The only Algonquian languages spoken in NB are Wolastoqey and Mi’kmaq Other Algonquian languages spoken in Canada are Ojibwa, Blackfoot, Powatomi and Montagnais

Wolastoqey Alphabet The alphabet for the writing system includes the following letters: A C E H I K LM N O P Q S T U W Y The writing system has 17 letters which includes 5 vowels and 12 consonants.

Wolastoqey Words You Know! Quispamsis (little lakes) Katahdin (big mountain) Wolastook (beautiful river) Mactaquac (where the river is red) Keswick (where the river flows over soft gravel) Notice that all of these place names describe the geography of the area. This is an example of a language reflecting something about a people’s way of life – where they lived.

Vowels - A E I O U Maliseet Letter English Example Maliseet Example Translation a father ahahs horse e bed espons raccoon i ski imi pray o apron opos tree/sticks u sue uten town

Vowel Blends - AW EW IW AY EY English Example Maliseet Example Translation aw how awt road ew   new four iw lamiw within ay pie sepay this morning ey grey piksey pork

Consonants - C H K L M N P Q S T W Y Six of the above consonants represent two sounds and the remaining consonants have only one sound. The consonants with two sounds are: C K P Q S T When the above six consonants are next to vowels, they will have a "hard/voiced" sound, however when they are nest to other consonants they will have a "soft/voiceless" sound

An Apostrophe (') is used when the beginning consonant is voiceless, even though followed by a vowel. For example in many words referring to third person such as: 'cihcin - his/her thumb 'pihtin - his/her hand The Apostrophe (') is also used to show missing initial consonants. These consonants have disappeared as the language has evolved as in the following examples: 'tomawey has replace "wtomawey" - tobacco 'pisun has replaced "npisun" - medicine

Maliseet Letter English Example Maliseet Example Translation C "soft/voiceless" church ckuwi come here! C "hard/voiced" judge cals grasshopper K ski skitap man guard naka and P pet Psiw-te every bet pihce long ago Q quill pesq one gwen qinte really S Sue sqot fire zoo sakom chief T tipi wast snow drum tama where?