丁香园AV

The Linguistics Department at 丁香园AV offers our congratulations and celebrate the appointment of Dr. Ron Ignace as the first Commissioner of Indigenous Languages.

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, has announced the first appointees to the new Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages:

Ronald E. Ignace, Commissioner
Robert Watt, Director
Georgina Liberty, Director
Joan Greyeyes, Director

"Le7 pyin te sitq虛t te swum茅cwilcstem re qweqwelt茅ns re xwexw茅yt te qelm煤cw wel me7 yews. Ta7 me7 sc煤7tsems re snecwent茅m re qweqwelt茅n-kt re sts虛el茅wt.s ne swet.s k smenmen煤l虛ecws ne7茅lye ne tmicw-kt. Tikwemt煤s me7 sucwentw茅cwmentem re qweqwelt茅n-kt."

"We celebrate this day where we breathe new life into all of our Indigenous languages for the future. Our languages will no longer stand in the shadow of other languages here in our land. Let us always honour our Indigenous languages." 

鈥擱on Ignace, Commissioner

The Commissioner and Directors were selected for their knowledge and understanding of Indigenous communities, cultures and languages, including an understanding of language vitality and endangerment, and for their ability to represent the interests of First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis peoples. They have unique strengths that will serve the interests, current needs and future direction of the OCIL. Collectively, their knowledge, expertise and leadership will facilitate better outcomes for Indigenous languages. Please see the full press release .

Ron Ignace has published and co-published, with Marianne Ignace, several articles and book chapters on Secwepemc history, ethnobotany, language and culture, and co-wrote the epic (McGill-Queens University Press 2017), a journey through 10,000 years of Secwepemc history. Having been raised by his great-grandparents, Ron is a fluent speaker of Secwepemctsin and has more than sixty years of practical experience in Secwepemc traditional food gathering, having learned these skills from his own elders, who shared their stories and teachings in the Secwepemc language with him.

Ignace is Adjunct Professor in Anthropology at 丁香园AV and has taught in 丁香园AV鈥檚 Indigenous Languages Program. He and 丁香园AV Linguistics Professor Marianne Ignace have been awarded a Governor General Innovation Award for their decades of collaborative research involving Indigenous people and communities.

For more, please see Federal government appoints Ron Ignace as first Commissioner of Indigenous Languages - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences - 丁香园AV (sfu.ca)