An Ontario driver says that being capable of taking the driver’s license test in his mother tongue, he has marked a special milestone in recovering his legacy.
Bizhiki Neebowid, who also goes by Jason Henry, has been asking for years to be able to test in Ogibwe, a language that she has been regaining after years of cultural oppression.
“Every year they used to ask me, ‘Language of preference?” And I will always say, ‘Anishinabe or Ozibwe’ and I will always get, ‘here is not your choice, “said the Nibovid.
As a truck driver, Nibovid has a commercial license and needs to take a written test every five years. The last time he took it, when he came to know that he can take the exam in his mother tongue.
“I was so surprised [when] He said, ‘You can take it to Ogibwe, OG-Kree or Cree and my jaw hit the floor … The man said to me,’ If you fail, it is 23 dollars and I was out of theory, I am going to spend my $ 23 until I can pass this test. ,
But he passed by his first attempt.
A spokesperson of the Ministry of Transport allowed written knowledge test up to 31 languages. Ogibwe, Cree and OG-Kri have been available since 2021.
“Language really keeps our identity … The more I learn, the more I understand that if you think English first, you will be in that culture and that identity,” said Niboist. “And the more you can think about Anishabi, the more you can understand how our ancestors understood life and existence and the world around us. All this is made in our language.”
For decades, it was illegal for indigenous children to speak their language in residential school. After generations, children of the remaining people are reclaiming those languages.
Anisinabemovin program manager Leena Ricolet at Toronto’s original Canadian center said, “There were always telling the elders there that no matter how much we learn culture, we are not knowing culture until we learn language.”
Representation of indigenous languages in the mainstream is limited, so it is a lot to be able to do any work in your own language.
“There is something that he really told us that our responsibility to take to the language, and also to learn the teachings,” Recall said.
The Nibovid said that the elders talk about the importance of knowing the importance of knowing that he wants to learn Ozibwe at an early age. He started a lesson with his parents, continued to learn and now he is working to teach the next generation.
