Heritage Michif To Go features over 11,500 translations and audio pronunciations by Michif-language expert Norman Fleury, including over 500 phrases. A search tool allows users to look up English words to find the Michif translations with accompanying narration. A “Favourites” feature allows users to quickly access frequently used words and phrases. A “History” tab tracks words and phrases recently accessed. Users are also able to share any entry to a variety of social platforms.
Perhaps only 5-10% of Métis people can speak any of the Michif languages. Most of these speakers are elderly, well-beyond the age of teachers and school resource personnel, and in many cases, isolated from other speakers. These Michif languages are critically endangered. At risk is our ways of communicating, our unique worldviews, and cultural knowledge. The time for language resources such as Heritage Michif To Go is now. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages “in order to raise awareness of them, not only to benefit the people who speak these languages, but also for others to appreciate the important contribution they make to our world’s rich cultural diversity.” In Canada, a bill was tabled on February 5, 2019 entitled the Indigenous Language Act. The act was created to support, promote, reclaim, revitalize, maintain, and strengthen the use of Indigenous languages. The Gabriel Dumont Institute is firmly committed to creating resources such as Heritage Michif to Go, which supports this initiative.
This project was developed by the Gabriel Dumont Institute, and acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada for the production of this resource.