CCUNESCO: Greetings Project
The Greetings Project is a collaborative initiative with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO), Dr. Onowa McIvor, and Native Land Digital. The project aims to enable both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to learn the greeting of the territory they live on or are visiting. This initiative supports an important objective of the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages – normalizing the use of Indigenous languages in public spaces.
Indigenous languages are as diverse as the peoples who speak them, with thousands of languages worldwide. Capturing the uniqueness of all greetings in all Indigenous languages is impossible in a brief write-up.
The concept of a “greeting” can be challenging to translate. Some languages use non-verbal gestures like head or hand movements instead of words. In others, conversations might start with inquiries about the weather or well-being rather than a greeting. Greetings can vary based on age, gender, familiarity, location, and the number of people addressed, depending on the language. Some languages also expect specific responses to greetings. Unlike English, where greetings like “hello” or “goodbye” are straightforward, Indigenous greetings often carry deeper meanings that reflect cultural values and social norms.
For settlers and visitors, recognizing and using greetings from the Indigenous languages of the territory where they reside or visit is an important act of truth and reconciliation. It honours the presence of Indigenous people and addresses the attempted erasure of Indigenous languages. As a visitor to any territory in the world, learning about the language of the territory and its greetings is a sign of respect. Just as a visitor would commonly learn a few words or phrase when traveling to a foreign country, doing the same as a guest in Indigenous territories is a wonderful gesture!
CCUNESCO, Dr. Onowa McIvor and Native Land Digital would like to thank all language carriers, champions, teachers, and learners for their tireless work to perpetuate Indigenous languages from generation to generation. Thank you especially to the language speakers who generously shared greetings for this project and whose voices can be heard on the Native-Land.ca website.