Preserving and promoting Aboriginal languages is the topic of discussion today at a conference in Saskatoon.
The two-day First Nations Language Keepers Conference is hosted by the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre.
SICC director of languages Delores Greyeyes Sand says about 400 delegates are expected to attend.
“We’ve got delegates from BC, from the Yukon, from all across Canada,” she says.
Sand adds presentations and workshops will take place on a number of different Indigenous language groups, including Cree, Dene, Lakota and Nakota.
Sand says preserving Indigenous languages is essential to retaining culture.
“The thing is that whatever your language is, it has to be first. You have to always speak, in my case Cree, first.”
Indigenous musician Susan Aglukark is one of the presenters at the event.
The theme of this year’s conference is “First Nations Kinship” and its role in First Nations societies.
The event is taking place at the Saskatoon Inn and wraps up on Thursday afternoon.
MBC language announcers Abel Charles and Kevin Fontaine will be hosting live coverage of the gathering today and tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Missinipi Achimowin and Missinipi Dene Honi.