Our Mission
The mission of Oki Language Project is to bring communities and people together through language and stories.
“Our words tie us to the land, and when we speak the words that are birthed from the earth we stand on, the land thrives and in turn, the people thrive. We invite you to learn to speak to the earth and the people.” —Eugene Brave Rock
In 1890, the anthropologist Jesse Walter Fewkes gathered members of the Passamaquoddy to record folk stories, songs, and chants. For years, the tribe did not know the whereabouts of these recordings.” - New Yorker
3 out of 4 Indigenous languages are endangered
Language is a powerful tool that defines the culture and identity of a people. Each word is a repository of stories that contains ancient knowledge and meaning beyond literal ideations. The larger concept becomes one of being a part of ecology and understanding the importance of the environment and one’s relation to it. Indigenous rights to language were taken away and through this project our goal is to protect, preserve, and celebrate the diversity of our roots by reestablishing a deeper appreciation towards an equitable system through language.
The roots of who we are is in the language we speak
Oki Language Project is an initiative inspired by the Blackfoot Language Revival Group with a vision to create thriving and proud communities for future generations through active promotion of Indigenous history, language and culture. The word “hello” is not just a greeting in Indigenous languages but represents a unique and diverse world view of a people.
Through this project we will begin collecting a video library of Indigenous language greetings of Turtle Island and share Elder stories about the deep understanding of this meaningful act of welcoming another human being. This library will be accessible to all, as a way to honour the original peoples of the lands we occupy and visit. These stories are for all of us.
This initiative is led by Gene Brave Rock, a proud Blackfoot man born and raised in Blackfoot country. Gene attended school in Cardston, Fort McLeod, Lethbridge, and Calgary. Gene presently resides in California, the ancestral and current home of the Tongva peoples.
“I am unrelentingly proud to be from the Blood tribe of Southern Alberta. The world best knows me for my role as ‘Chief’ in DC Comics ‘Wonder Woman’ and because of that role the world knows not just me but all of us, because they have heard our language in a major motion picture and let it not be the last time.
In researching our language, I have come to know that the meaning of words could take days to explain. Everything in Blackfoot culture has its purpose, place and symbiotic rhythm giving it a sacredness so that it is not to be misused, abused or taken for granted. This is true for all Indigenous languages and it is important to educate and raise awareness for future generations.
We are raising funds to travel across Turtle Island and capture on film every tribe’s ‘hello” through the sharing of Elder stories. Our Elders are aging and with them the oral traditional knowledge will disappear unless we do something. We cannot sit idly by and neglect to protect our most precious resource: our languages.”
This process of language revival has been started in our lifetime, and we are the ones fighting to reclaim our words, our culture and our way of life. Future generations depend on the knowledge transfer by the ancestors. We know where we stand, but ask yourself what kind of an ancestor do I want to be?