Say It First


Indigenous Language Revitalization

My Language is Me
My Language is Me
My Language is My Culture
My Language is My Culture
My language is My Community
My language is My Community
My Language is Wellness
My Language is Wellness
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The Promise of Language

Identity  Culture  Community  Wellness 

"What one cannot argue is that the First Nations' languages are travelling well along the road to extinction. They are having a near death experience and will cease to exist if not acted upon by an external force. This defeat is a given, like it or not."

"My deep concern is that the Native population is running out of time and we are at the last place in time to attempt a recovery before these natural resources are gone forever"

"One thing we can do to change the erosion of language and culture is to digitize the older peoples' knowledge and incorporate it in a way that this information will get consumed by the younger generation"

Mike Parkhill Signature

Mike Parkhill,
Founder, SayITFirst

'Life Is Not Easy - Laughter Means Survival'

A Seven Generations Education Institute project funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Laughter isn’t just a part of Anishinaabe culture, it was described by Tommy White as a survival mechanism, much like water, food, and shelter. All of the stories in this book are the results of the effort to capture funny, real life recollections from over 30 Elders across the Treaty #3 Territory.

A very special thanks to Gilbert Smith, Adik clan, Naicatchewenin First Nation for his guidance, Kristy Cameron for her interpretation for the cover and Carol Anderson for her extensive editing. 

Thank you for all those who showed the courage to be interviewed for this book and for the translators showing respect in the translations of other people’s stories.

Click on the cover image for a free download of 'Life Is Not Easy - Laughter Means Survival'.

Life Is Not Easy Book Cover