On June 25, Embark Sustainability held a community kitchen event titled “Language as Nourishment.” This event, hosted in the Student Union Building’s community kitchen, was led by Kil Daagwiiya Hooper, an undergraduate student studying political science and Indigenous studies, James Houle, a graduate student in Mathematics, and Marie Haddad, director of engagement at Embark.
Hooper and Houle are leaders from the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Student Association. They spoke to the importance of maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous languages as they led the group in making Indian tacos and jum. The Peak attended the event to learn more about the “deep ties between Indigenous languages, food justice, and culture.”
Hooper said there are 12 Indigenous language families in Canada and 36 First Nations languages in BC. However, a number of these languages are endangered due to the impacts of settler colonialism and residential schools. According to Statistics Canada, “First Nations adults aged 65 and older (54.6%) were four times more likely to speak an Indigenous language than children aged 14 and younger (13.7%).”
These foods “bring the feeling of community — Indian Tacos, as they’re a widely shared comfort food for Indigenous people, and Jum, as it’s a food that she grew up having regularly at home on Haida Gwaii.” — Kil Daagwiiya Hooper, undergraduate in political science and Indigenous studies, FNMISA leader
The number of Indigenous Peoples who learned their language at home as a child has declined by 7.1% from 2016. Hooper told The Peak, “While many Indigenous people want to learn their language, there typically isn’t enough support in place to learn it past basic words/phrases.” She advocated for “more funding provided to language organizations so that they’re able to reduce barriers for language learners.” Current revitalization efforts in BC include the Mentor-Apprentice program, a one-on-one program where First Nations Peoples are paired with a fluent speaker, and the Language Nest program, an early childhood Indigenous language program.
Hooper and Houle introduced the food the group would make for the evening. Indian Tacos are seasoned meat served on frybread or bannock, while jum is a halibut stew with potatoes, sliced onions and seasoning. They added that depending on which Indigenous community someone is part of, bannock and fry bread could be viewed as the same or distinct. While some view fry bread as fried and bannock as baked, bannock could also be both fried and baked, making for a similar type of bread.
Hooper told The Peak she chose these foods because they “bring the feeling of community — Indian tacos, as they’re a widely shared comfort food for Indigenous people, and jum, as it’s a food that she grew up having regularly at home on Haida Gwaii.” She added that the event is named “Language as Nourishment” as there is an “importance that Indigenous languages have, nourishing our spirit. Similarly, Indian Tacos and um give that same nourishing feeling.”
