The Mi’gmaq Language: An Ancestral Heritage to Preserve

The Mi’gmaq have lived in Gespe’gewa’gi (Gaspésie) for over 10,000 years, living in harmony with Mother Earth. The territory of Gespe’gewa’gi includes three Mi’gmaq communities: Listuguj, located at the mouth of the Restigouche River; Gesgapegiag, located at the mouth of the Cascapédia River; and Gespeg, which shares its lands with the town of Gaspé. Like other Indigenous peoples, the Mi’gmaq have their own language, which is taught in schools in Listuguj and Gesgapegiag, but not in Gespeg. This is because Gespeg does not have a reserve with a school focused on Mi’gmaq language instruction, meaning children from the Gespeg community attend non-Indigenous schools. As there is no specialized Mi’gmaq school, the Gespeg community is currently working closely with the Listuguj and Gesgapegiag communities to have fluent speakers from those communities teach the Mi’gmaq language to Gespeg members. Gespeg lost its language over time, and it is through the collaboration of the other two communities that we can relearn our language.

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The Mi’gmaq language has existed as long as the Mi’gmaq people and is a descriptive language from the larger Algonquian language family. This means that names given to places, people, and things are based on their appearance or the action they perform. Two differing Mi’gmaq dialects can be found: the Maritimes provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, etc.) use a dialect that includes the letter ‘K’ instead of ‘G’, while Quebec uses the letter ‘G’ instead of ‘K’. An example of this is the word ‘Gwe’ which means hello. In Quebec, we use the letter G to start the word, but in the Maritimes provinces, they use the letter ‘K’ for ‘Kwe’. It is also important to know that the Mi’gmaq language does not follow the Latin alphabet but has its own alphabet, which is shorter and includes the apostrophe as a letter.

To better understand the role of the apostrophe, here is an example of a word whose meaning changes depending on where the apostrophe is located:

Gesalul (Gay-sah-lool): I love you

Gesa’lul (Gay-saah-lool): I hurt you

Ge’sa’lul (Gaay-saah-lool): I gently throw you into the fire

By placing the apostrophe in the word, we can see from the example above how the meaning of the word changes. That is why it is important, when learning the Mi'gmaq language, to learn from someone who is fluent in Mi'gmaq.

Here are more examples of words in Mi’gmaq:

Tia’m (Dee-awm): Moose

Mui’n (Moo-een): Bear

Gitpu (Git-boo): Eagle

Gwe’ (Ga-way): Hello

Wela’lin (Well-ah-lin): Thank you

E’e (eh-hey): Yes

Moqwa (Mo-kwa): No

Language is the foundation of any culture, and the Mi’gmaq language is no different within Mi’gmaq communities. It is essential that we continue to teach the language to our younger generations and that we, as a community, continue to learn our language to keep it alive.

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