Writing News

Language is a complex topic in Canada, and a major topic in Quebec.


Quebec is the only Canadian province that is officially Francophone. However in its largest city, my current hometown of Montreal, you’ll hear a lot of English spoken too. I speak both, while recognising that in this land these are colonial languages—there are many indigenous languages spoken in remote communities in Quebec. Those languages can be heard too on the streets of Montreal, sadly often by people suffering homelessness.


In recent years in Quebec there has been an upsurge of interest in the culture of the Indigenous Peoples, sometimes because of terrible events such as the awful death of Joyce Echaquan, but often from increased awareness through the media, or from simple curiosity.  I’ve learned quite a bit about the culture of the Innu First Nation through French, in the writings of the Quebecois anthropologist and writer Serge Bouchard (e.g. his interviews published as Récits de Mathieu Mestokosho, chasseur innu) and in the books of the Innu writer and journalist Michel Jean (e.g. his fantastic novels Kukum and Tiohtià:ke). In my stories I often have characters switch from English to French to try to capture some of the essence of Montreal, but I’ve known for a long time that this was incomplete without giving a voice to indigenous characters too.


This past September my wife and I began classes in Innu-aimun at  l’Université de Montréal. I thought the Irish I learned at school was tough, but this was another level above that entirely! But I’ve gained an appreciation for and an elementary capacity in this beautiful language. 


I’m currently working on a short story (in English) which is situated at the intersection of English, French, and Innu-aimun, with dialogue encompassing all three languages. I’m not quite sure yet if I can make it work, but I’m learning a lot from the effort. More news on that soon, I hope.

 

In the meantime, here's a link to some simple phrases in Innu-aimun. ("Kuei Kuei", the title of this post, is a friendly greeting.)