New Year’s Eve Celebration: Laughter is Medicine

The United Nations International has declared the Decade of Indigenous Languages from 2022-2032, and as we approach the closing of the first year we celebrate Indigenous language revitalization through community, laughter, and the promotion of Indigenous languages. This event will be fundraising for the first ever Indigenous Languages and Cultural Learning Centre, and will have three Indigenous comedians showcasing their talents, and assisting us in raising money for the development of the new facility.

The aim is to be able to offer all the tools and resources needed for language programming, projects, translations, camps, classes, and more on one land – to be a completely accessible facility for all Manitoban Indigenous language needs. As of now, we must outsource all external programming and projects because we do not have a facility that is equipped to provide us with the necessary space for what our organization needs. An example is outsourcing venues for language documentation, as we do not have a facility for recording, meaning we are allocating funds to renting hotel rooms and conference rooms. Or even offering the language classes virtually because we do not have a space equipped to be used as a classroom, which severely impacts the connections needed between learner and teacher, as well as peers.

We are excited to celebrate, engage, promote, and embrace Indigenous languages as we move into the second year of the decade.