Faculty Profile
Jasḵwaan Bedard: In her own words
Interview by Nicole North
Congratulations on starting your new role as an Instructor at the Indigenous Languages Program (INLP) of SFU Linguistics. We’re excited for you to join our faculty. Let’s begin by hearing the story of your time as a PhD student at INLP.
I have aligned my PhD research with the many roles I have filled in my community to strengthen our dialect of X̱aad Kil, the Old Massett dialect of the Haida language. My research uses a Haida Research Framework based on Haida Laws and protocols to guide a pathway for X̱aad Kil immersion. My work has allowed me to apply my research in how to best serve our community language needs in real time. My time as a PhD student at SFU’s Indigenous Languages Program has been defined by the ability to learn by doing – as I simultaneously research and learn about best practices in Indigenous language immersion, I am able to enact those practices in community programs.
I’ve had the opportunity to design and teach both beginner and intermediate level X̱aad Kíl courses offered through the Indigenous Language Program that aim to increase understanding, listening, and speaking skills to prepare students for active participation in Haida language immersion. I have also been able to create a X̱aad Kíl curriculum and a range of multi-media Haida language resources, including YouTube videos, posters, books, and lessons. My PhD work will be completed by early 2025.
What do you envision for your role as INLP faculty, in terms of impact on your students and community?
In my role as INLP faculty, my goal is to impact students and the community by advocating for and amplifying our Indigenous voices and worldview, and further, to emphasize the importance of enacting Indigenous protocols and ways of being in all work pertaining to teaching and researching Indigenous languages. The Indigenous Languages Program is an ideal space for me to do that. I have been active in Haida language strengthening in my community for twenty-five years and have taught our language to every age group, from newborns to post-secondary adult second language learners.
I am an advocate for Indigenous languages provincially and nationally. My experiences have been guided by the teachings of my ancestors and community that amplify Yahgudang – respect and reciprocity. I would like to bring Yahgudang into all the work I do in my new role and to demonstrate care and understanding to both students and the university community.
“By operating with a foundational belief in our own capability to reach language success and our ability to thrive, we create a new narrative for Indigenous language learning.”
Please tell us about your goals for research work.
My primary goal is to continue to align Indigenous protocols and ways of being with Indigenous language pedagogy and research. I am interested in researching Indigenous language communities where second language learners overcome barriers and are supported to create programming that results in more speakers of their languages. I am especially interested in researching the interconnectedness between Indigenous language learning and impacts on social determinants such as mental and physical health and wellness.
During your interview with Coastal First Nations - Great Bear Initiative, you spoke about shifting the narrative on Indigenous language learning and identity: “Instead of this language of loss, we have to focus on what we have, and how powerful it is that we have it. If we’re speaking to each other in our language, however perfectly or imperfectly, that’s us speaking our language. This idea that you’re only a speaker if you reach this level of education or perfection, is always going to hold us back. This is our language, our language to speak. Our teachers, our Elders who are no longer with us entrusted that we would be in this space and time now, teaching each other what they taught us, speaking to each other.”
Would you please expand on this point so that INLP students and the larger SFU community can understand the importance of shifting the narrative?
Shifting the narrative is of absolute importance for the health and well-being of Indigenous languages. I would like INLP students and the SFU community to realize that to create a pathway for thriving language communities is to embrace a new understanding about the state of Indigenous languages generally. It has been the case since the very first contact with Europeans that a language of loss has been imposed on Indigenous ways of being, including our cultures and languages.
Throughout the history of colonialism in what is now Canada, this language of loss concerning Indigenous peoples and languages has become the societal norm, with terminology such as “dying” or “disappearing” languages being commonplace. This narrative presents a stark and gloomy atmosphere where Indigenous peoples are always having a metaphorical mountain to climb to reach any sort of language learning success, a situation where we are made to seem poorly equipped and pitted against each other to reach the top.
In shifting the narrative from loss and death to thriving and success, Indigenous peoples claim back a healthy understanding of our languages and ultimately, ourselves. Indigenous educators and language learners have opportunities now to set the measures of language acquisition within our communities. This was not always the case. In recognizing the harms imposed on Indigenous languages through colonial attitudes and systematic violence, we must embrace an understanding of the radical kindness needed to heal from these traumatic occurrences.
As Indigenous language teachers, this means we model gentle correcting and forgiveness and make understanding each other primary within our language classes, and by doing so we actively combat the negative impacts that colonialism has imposed onto our languages. By operating with a foundational belief in our own capability to reach language success and our ability to thrive, we create a new narrative for Indigenous language learning.
Further reading
Explore these links to learn more about Jasḵwaan Bedard:
Standing up for Indigenous language learning
“SFU PhD student, Jasḵwaan Bedard is leading her community and raising new generations of X̲aad Kíl language speakers at home and throughout North America…”
Language of the land: An interview with Jasḵwaan Bedard
“The misconception that Indigenous languages are ‘lost’ is by design…”
Jasḵwaan Amanda Bedard: Haida Language Teacher - A Source of Power and a Journey of Healing
“As a Haida Language and Culture Curriculum Implementation Teacher, Jasḵwaan creates a nurturing space for her community to access their language…”
In Conversation with Jasḵwaan Bedard
“Over the past 15 years Jasḵwaan has been active in numerous language-learning programs in her community…”
For This Haida Speaker, a Call to Learn and a Call to Teach
“Jasḵwaan Bedard advocates for grassroots protection and preservation…”