Playing Sharing Circle: Part 3 of 4

Brief Description: Language is what connects aboriginal peoples to the spirit of the land, to their ancestral teachings and to the essence of their culture. Yet all across Canada, aboriginal languages are close to the brink of extinction. This episode exposes the role of the residential school system in this crisis, and shares the stories of language activists against time to revitalize and save our endangered words. (Part 3 of 4)

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I live on $200/month. My program does not take very much money. I started off with the house that I grew up in. As long as I have a warm place for the children to learn in, that’s my biggest goal. We began a year ago with the children. We decided to use the name Chankukha, who is Dakota name for my father. His name means “road maker” so it is appropriate that we name our group, our little school, Chankukha, Dakota Immersion Learning Centre. Dakota should be spoken in the home because it is one of the languages that are becoming extinct and the children understand that. They understand that it’s a big responsibility for them to keep the language, our Dakota language, alive. It is something that has never really been done here on our community. It’s a new adventure for us, and the children are enjoying it and I am enjoying it as well because we incorporate into our lessons not only academics, but our culture, our beliefs. Production company: Eagle Vision Date of production: 2005