Indigenous Network McGill

In the upcoming Winter 2021 semester, two new courses will be offered by the Department of Linguistics! These courses will be led by professor James Crippen.

Ling 211: Introduction to Indigenous Languages

This course provides and introduction to the scientific study of language through the lens of Indigenous languages in North America. This course includes basic linguistic concepts like sound system organization, word formation and structure, gender and classification, expression of time and space are all explored through examples drawn from Indigenous languages across the continent. Cultural and political issues addressed include orality versus literacy, language endangerment and revitalization, and social policies of support or suppression.

This course will take place on Tuesday/Thursdays from 11:30am to 12:55pm.

Ling 411/611: Structure/Analysis of an Indigenous Language

This course reviews the languages in the Na-Dene (Dene-Eyak-Tlingit) family of North America. Topics include: history of research on the family, shared patterns in the organization of linguistic subsystems, genealogical relationships and subgrouping proposals and particular problems that Na-Dene languages pose for linguistic theory. Students will select a particular linguistic phenomenon to review in a final paper, either in depth for a particular lanugage or more shallowly across a selection of languages in the family. Graduate students will apply current theoretical research to their selected topic and will develop a novel analysis of primary data from published sources.

This course will be offered Monday/Wednesday from 4:05-5:25pm. Note that this course is open to both graduate and undergraduate students.

On December 7th at 7pm EST, students from INDG 400 (Food Sovereignty) were invited to watch the film “Gather”, directed by Sanjay Rawal. In addition to the INDG 400 course, students from another course and First People’s House were invited to attend the screening.

“Gather” is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.

Watch the full trailer for “Gather” here:

On November 4th, McGill’s INDG 200 course welcomed Innu political activist Michèle Audette for a Q&A session with students concerning Indigenous Feminisms. Students were given the opportunity to connect and ask questions about her work and its relevance to the larger Indigenous communities.

Michèle Audette has served as president of Femmes autochtones du Québec (Quebec Native Women) and the Native Women’s Association of Canada. In 2017, she was appointed as one of the five commissioners of the government’s national inquiry: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

“When Canadian society creates systems in which violence becomes pervasive, and which puts Indigenous women at risk, we fail our collective responsibilities.” – Michèle Audette 

You can find more information here about her work on the national inquiry on MMIWG.

Rahskwahseron:nis – Building Bridges is a recent video presented by Indigenous Access McGill and the School of Social Work, celebrating ten years of the IDFC 500 Indigenous Studies Field Course class. The course “provides an opportunity for Social Work, Law, Medicine and Anthropology students to learn about Haudenosaunee cultures and worldviews, with particular emphasis on linkages to students’ practice areas.” Watch the video here: