Linguist says more COVID-19 education needed in Mi'kmaw language

As variant strains of the coronavirus spread quickly in many parts of Canada, a Mi'kmaw elder is worried that important information about COVID-19 could get lost in translation.

Terms like variant, B117 and mRNA simply don't exist in the Mi'kmaw language, said linguist Bernie Francis, who helped create the writing system for the oral language.

He wants more information about the virus and its new variants available to people living on reserve, especially elders, for whom English is not their first language.

"They must be spoken to in the language that they're familiar with so that they take extra care that is needed to fend off this virus," Francis told CBC Radio's Mainstreet this week. 

Even the word COVID can cause confusion, he said. Because there is no V sound in Mi'kmaw, COVID sounds a lot like gopit, the word for beaver.

It led one woman to ask Francis early on in the pandemic why everyone seemed so concerned about the animal.

"This lady was under the impression that we were fighting against this beaver in the community that was infecting everybody," he said. "That was my first clue that there was going to be a problem."

Listen to Bernie Francis' message about COVID-19 safety in the Mi'kmaw language:

The B117 variant from the U.K. is being blamed in the recent outbreak in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as a large outbreak in Alberta.

Francis said an outbreak in Eskasoni First Nation, the world's largest Mi'kmaw community, would be devastating because it's home to many elders who are also among a small group of fluent Mi'kmaw speakers.

"We have to do better than speak English to my people," he said. "Mi'kmaw language is their mother tongue and that's what they use, so it should be explained in the Mi'kmaw language so that everybody gets the entire message."

The provincial government says it gives "thoughtful consideration to translation requests," but also encourages community organizations to adapt and translate government information on their own. 

Spokesperson Marla MacInnis said the province has translated some common COVID-19 public health measures into Mi'kmaw, pointing to a PDF that is available online.

"Once translated, the information is shared with relevant departments for distribution, and is also shared via the daily stakeholder email from the Department of Health and Wellness," she wrote in an email. 

MacInnis said the province is also working with Mi'kmaw communities on and off reserve, including biweekly meetings between Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, and Mi'kmaw chiefs.

Translation services lacking in general

Sharon Rudderham, director of health at the Eskasoni Health Centre, said the community has taken it upon itself to provide COVID material to Mi'kmaw speakers. Last December, Chief Leroy Denny and a nurse recorded a video in Mi'kmaw explaining how the rapid testing site worked. 

"We know the importance of language and the importance of translation, but unfortunately that is an issue right across the entire province," Rudderham said. "There is a lack of availability of translation in general within the Nova Scotia health-care system."

It creates all kinds of barriers for Mi'kmaw people trying to access health services, she said, including being able to fill out the consent form to get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

"It'll be an additional effort for our Mi'kmaw speakers and Mi'kmaw speaking nurses to provide translation to really ensure that community members are clearly understanding what they're consenting to," she said.

Piluika'sit or 'a bug that changes shape'

Francis said education is an important tool in the fight against the virus.

"We talk about masks and we talk about vaccines, but we must also talk about education," he said.

He shared a message in Mi'kmaw about COVID-19 safety on CBC Radio's Mainstreet this week and used the word piluika'sit for variant. In English, it means a "bug that changes shape," he said. 

He also used the phrase jujij ta'n wisqikwet, which roughly translates to the word exponential or "a bug that grows fast." Naqsi-psekwet could also be used as it translates to "one which infects quickly," he said.

Francis said he owes much of his education about the Mi'kmaw language to a handful of elders who shared knowledge that can't be found in a library or on a computer.

"Some of the more important stuff, particularly to do with spirituality for example, you must go to the elders to get this information, so that's why it's important that we keep them around as long as we can," he said. 

Rudderham, who has worked in health care for more than 20 years, said she's raised the issue of translation many times. It's a problem that impacts Mi'kmaw people across the province, she said, both young and old. 

"I don't believe that this is considered a priority," she said. "There's no commitment. I've seen no commitment to supporting specific services to support translation."