Sask. woman working to reclaim Saulteaux language and pass it along to others

Natalie Langan grew up speaking Saulteaux, but after the death of her grandmother close to 20 years ago, she stopped speaking her language. 

Now, she's on a journey to reclaim it.  

Langan, who is from from Cote First Nation, about 230 kilometres northeast of Regina, was raised on Fishing Lake First Nation by her late grandmother, and was a fluent speaker of Saulteaux — also known as Anihšināpēmowin or Nahkawêwin — before her grandmother's death.

"I feel like my language went along with her, because I had nobody to speak the language with anymore," said Langan. 

The two would speak the language to each other, and it was their first language at home. 

"She was the one that I spoke Saulteaux to," said Langan. "So when she passed away, I felt like I had no one to speak to, so I didn't speak."

But three years ago, Langan decided to relearn her language.

She took classes at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina from Lorena Lynn Cote, a faculty member with the university's department of Indigenous languages, arts and cultures.

"When I started relearning my language, it was not only rewarding, challenging and exciting, but also really eye-opening," said Langan. "It really makes me aware of how important it was that I restarted this journey."

As she continued, "I also really wanted to teach what I was relearning, what I was learning," she said. "I wanted to pass that on."

Now, she's teaching a weekly online class, and sharing the language in her own way. 

"I consider myself a mentor, and everybody that joins the class, they are my apprentice students," she said. 

Langan said it's important to her to keep people engaged and learning.

"Every one of these students that are taking my class has a story," she said. "They're just trying to be like me and get their language back."

San Francisco Bay area sisters learning Saulteaux

Padme James and her sister, Beru James, are learning to speak Saulteaux through Langan's weekly online classes. They're also from the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan, are but currently living in the San Francisco Bay area.

"I've always had that urge to reconnect and learn my culture, and connect with the people who live on my reservation," said Padme.

Beru said she loves her First Nations heritage.

"I want to be able to speak with other people," she said. "I want to be able to say 'kisāwēnimin, I love you,' to my sister, or to my grandfather also."

Since starting Langan's class, both sisters are excelling at learning the language. 

"I love speaking my language," said Padme. "I feel grateful that I get to, because I know for a long time people were not allowed to."

Beru also said she's proud to be able to speak the language now. 

"I think it's beautiful," she said. "I can say 'ānīn nimihšomihš' — 'hi, my grandfather,' and I can talk to my father, like, 'nipāpā kisāwēnimin, I love you, my dad.'"

Beru said there's a learning curve to learning any new language, but Langan has been a great teacher. 

"She makes learning this language so easy and so accessible."