Mǫ ht’a Go ehk’ǫ
Date
2018-10-09
Authors
Mantla, Rosa
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Abstract
Tłı̨chǫ people have lived in the Tłı̨chǫ region for hundreds of years. Gokecho dıı nèk’e nàgı̨ı̨dè gots’ǫ. Since our Ancestor’s time our Forefathers have lived on Tłı̨chǫ Land. Our Elders believed that our land is the foundation for our way of life, our Tłı̨chǫ Yatıı , na owo - Tłı̨chǫ language and culture, and Tłı̨chǫ Worldview. It is said by our Elders, our Tłı̨chǫ history has records of how animals spoke Tłı̨chǫ to connect with the people. It is a land-based language and in existence to this very day. To continue teaching our traditional taboos and beliefs to our children is to preserve and transmit knowledge to the future generations. We use the Tłı̨chǫ language to do this.
This project on Tłı̨chǫ puberty rites exemplifies the relationship between language, culture and land: the people are the girls becoming women; they need to be on the land to learn; they learn through the Tłı̨chǫ oral language and through traditional activities connected to the language. The Elders tell us that our language is essential to be taught in the content of passage of rites for the girls, Mǫ ht’a Go ehk’ǫ (I Made Camp Fire). When I went through my puberty rites, I gained so much insights on all aspects of sacred knowledge; it was an overwhelming but incredibly rich experience. Over the years, I have passed on my teachings related to puberty rites. In this paper, I document how I have done this through the school curriculum, and through the Grade 7 puberty camps.
In the paper, I start by providing context for my work: I start by situating myself, and then introduce the Tłı̨chǫ worldview, the link between language and health, and the health of language (Section 2). Then I talk about traditional puberty rites of passage, illustrating them through my own story and a short version of my mother’s story (Section 3), and I discuss how they are taught in the schools (Section 4). After that, I document the puberty camps that I have been involved with for many years, through the Dogrib Divisional Board of Education, now the Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency (TCSA), including the language used at the camps (Section 5). I end by reflecting on the importance of language in the camps, and providing recommendations for continuing to bring language into the camps (Section 6).
Like my colleagues in the educational system, I really want the puberty camps to be taught, including all aspects of Traditional Knowledge of how our people have practised the rites of passage for girls. It’s very important that the girls understand the rites of passage, and are able to practice them and acknowledge that they have to respect these teachings and the Traditional Knowledge, to honour the teachings of the Elders.
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Keywords
Indigenous, Language, Revitalization, Tłı̨chǫ people, puberty rites