Hinterland Who's Who videos now available in Indigenous languages

In honour of Canada's 150th anniversary, the Canadian Wildlife Federation has released a collection of videos in six Indigenous languages. The videos are part of the series Hinterland Who's Who, which are a collection of short public service announcements on Canadian wildlife.

The federation has been making the videos since the 1960s in English and French, but it is the first time they've recorded them in Indigenous languages.

"Our goal is to highlight our most iconic species but also highlight the importance of Indigenous culture in Canada," said Annie Langlois, the project's coordinator.

There are two videos that have been recorded in Indigenous languages — the wolverine and the freshwater turtle.

Langlois said they chose those animals because they "are important to some [Indigenous] cultures - they are present in legends."

The videos are available in Woods Cree, Denesuline, Inuktitut, Mohawk, Oji-Cree and Ojibwe. 

Typically the organization releases two videos per year, but in honour of Canada's 150th anniversary, they are releasing an additional four videos — which will be available in English and French.

The organization hopes to continue to make videos available in Indigenous languages. Next year they might make a video on the raven, which Langlois believes would be an important one to record in Indigenous languages.