About
Welcome to the LearnMichif.com website!! Thank you for taking the time to visit this site!
This website is a joint project of the Métis Nation British Columbia and the BC United Métis Youth Circle. It was created with funding from the Canadian Culture On-Line Project, a division of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
History
LearnMichif.com was an initiative by Jeff Ward of Animikii early in 2003. Jeff saw the need for on-line Michif language instruction and built a basic web page based on the existing body of work done by Norman Fleury, Peter Bakker, Heather Souter, Pemmican Publications, and many, many other people. It wasn't until 2005 that he approached the British Columbia United Métis Youth Circle to partner and produce a website that would engage, educate and revive the Métis language. In 2006, the BCUMYC, Ry Moran & Jeff Ward put together a plan to take LearnMichif.com to the next level. Now in it's 2nd year supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online" fund, LearnMichif enjoys an in-depth study of the Michif language including Michif video instruction, artist profiles and cultural information.Thank you all for contributing your efforts to the preservation and growth of the Michif Language.
Our Goals
Our goal when building this site was to the provide content to help people connect with their past and with their future as Métis people. We feel very strongly that language is a central component of identity and have thus attempted to make the language lessons easy to follow and fun to use.If you are a non-Métis person visiting this site, welcome! Thank you for showing interest in the Métis culture! This site is intended as much for you as it is for the Métis community. We hope that the site will provide you with information and background on the Métis culture of Canada. Try a few words; you may recognize a few as the dialect currently featured on our site contains many French phrases.
Community Involvement
Of utmost importance, this is a website that is for you, the community. We are keen to hear your feedback on the site and look forward to incorporating your suggestions in the content we offer on the site. The link below is a direct line to our response line. Please let us know what you think.We aim to improve upon this site well into the future and have plans to include many other videos, interviews and language variations from across the country. Future videos scheduled for posting include videos on jigging, beading and additional elder interviews. Your patience is appreciated as we continue to work hard to provide you with additional content.
MNBC Mandate
As the democratically elected political representative and governing organization for the Métis in British Columbia, the Métis Nation British Columbia represents the political, legal, social and economic interests of the Métis people in B.C. to Local, Provincial and Federal levels of governments, funding agencies and other related bodies. In addition, the MNBC undertakes an advocacy, coordination and policy-making role on behalf of Métis people in B.C. on matters related to Provincial and Federal programs and services. The MNBC also acts to protect and preserve Métis history, promote and develop Métis culture, ensure Métis rights are understood and protected, and coordinate or facilitate local activities of Métis communities.BC United Metis Youth Circle
The British Columbia United Métis Youth Circle (BCUMYC) is an institution of governance that advocates and lobbies on behalf of Métis Youth in the province of BC. It operates as a provincial youth political body within theMétis Nation BC (MNBC). The BCUMYC strives to ensure Métis youth are equally represented and engaged in all levels of governance for future sustainability.
Acknowledgements
There are many people and organizations who were involved in the making of this site. A big thank you to all of you. Without you this wouldn't be possible.Norman Fleury
Ry Moran
Jeff Ward
Amy Place
Rob Sawchuk
Kelvin Wong
Trent Freeman
David Morin
The Gabriel Dumont Institute
We acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through Canadian Culture Online.
Ry's Trip To The Prairies
6 am, Friday Morning, January 26, 2007
Ry Moran
After wrapping up the Excellence in Action conference in Saskatoon Saskatewan I am packed and ready to head out to Virdun Manitoba to commence the collection and video recording of Norman Fleury.
I am really looking forward to this trip. I have not spent that much time driving on the Prairies and look forward to getting a sense of the land out here. I’m bringing with me a nice portable lighting rig, a good 3 chip Sony HD camera and a good Senhienser shotgun mic. This ought to do the job.
11 pm Friday, January 26, 2007
Ry Moran
Well I made it. The driving conditions on a whole were Ok. It was clear most of the way except for a brief spell outside Regina where visibility due to blowing snow was pretty well down to about zero. I couldn’t believe it!
I ended up meeting Norm in the evening at the A&W in Virdun from where we left and went out for a chicken dinner at the Chicken Chef restaurant. The real adventure started when we went to leave to head back to Norm’s farm. The visibility was brutal and at some points I could barely make out the side of the road beside me. Thank God I had Norm leading otherwise I would have definitely not found his place in all that blowing snow. I tried to shoot a little video out of the front window of the car…take a look at it. It is a bad shot and of course I couldn’t shoot while the snow was at it’s worst as I had to focus on driving but maybe it will give you a taste of what it was like. I’m sure those of you from the Prairies will laugh at my apparent shock at the conditions!
Saturday evening, Jan 27
Ry Moran
Woke up at a good time this morning and settled down to work with Norm. Was able to get a lot of good shots of him working out with his animals and I found it very interesting to be out on a working farm. Norm has about 160 head of cattle, 25 horses, three dogs and a bunch of cats. Needless to say, there is a lot of work to be done around the farm.
I was also treated to Norm’s bannock making…a skill he picked up from his mother and grandmother. He has been making Bannock for such a long time now that he doesn’t even bother measuring the ingredients anymore…and it turned out great.
Going to bed fairly late as there was much to discuss and catch up on. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Sunday Evening, Jan 28
Ry Moran
Today again was a productive day. Spent most of the day working with Norman on the grammar and structure of Michif. I am starting to get the hang of things but it is not totally straightforward. Once we get the content figured out and a solid list established, I will commence the recording aspect of the project.
Amy has done great work on the lessons plans and I can’t wait to see what the whole project looks like when it is finished.
We were scheduled to head out on the road to capture some other speakers however road conditions have become variable to poor overnight. This is unfortunate that we will not get to speak with more people, however, it is not worth getting stuck in a blizzard for a couple additional videos. Next year, it would be great to shoot some of these videos in the summer, thus eliminating all these road issues!
Monday Evening Jan 29
Ry Moran
Ah…the one month anniversary of my most recent birthday. It seems longer than one month somehow. Completed the recording the content today and things went well. I think I will be heading back to Victoria with a lot of very useful information. Now the hard part is looming ahead of me…the editing. I’ve got to go into the files, export them, them chop up the individual words and phrases. That is going to be a very time consuming affair but it will be well worth it in the end. I head out tomorrow morning.
Norm has been fantastic and has treated me superbly. We have literally feasted while I have been here with fresh bannock, bannock bread, fresh pies, roast, steak, sausage and more. Some of the most interesting times of this trip have been sitting at the table with Norm just listening to his stories about what it was like for him growing up, what it was like for his Mom (now one hundred and four years old!) growing up.
I am going to bed tonight feeling that we have accomplished a lot. Norm told me that this curriculum that we are trying to develop represents this first time anything like this has been done with Michif. We are trying to get right into the language to break it down into useable verbs, nouns and phrases so that it can be effectively taught. I know spending this time with Norm has given me a greater understanding of the Michif and I know with practice that I will be able to get it down fairly soon.
Tuesday afternoon, Jan 31
Ry Moran
Made it. Ugggghh, driving on these Prairie roads can be brutal. The majority of the drive went well and I had awesome clear blue skies for most of the way to Regina.
All was well until just outside of Regina where I drove into a fairly decent storm complete with blowing snow and drifts forming across the road. The worst part of the drive came when the blowing snow reduced visibility to near zero at sometimes and I had a big semi trailer riding my butt through all of it. I also saw one car turned completely upside down in the median which is always a reassuring sight to see.
I’ll get to work chopping up these audio files. I will probably work until about 10 tonite after which time I should hit the hay as I’ve got to be on the plane first thing tomorrow
Wednesday, 8am, 35000 feet
Ry Moran
Well, I’m on the plane right now, probably somewhere over the Bugaboo Mountains or eastern BC at the moment. Flight is good and I’ve got a nice sunny sky to look out upon. I got up this morning at 5am and quickly packed up. I had to get all of my audio and video equipment safely packed away into my luggage before heading out to the airport. I also had to put in a little gas which I really should have done last night but decided to leave it to the morning. I made it to drop off the rental car fine and met the cab to take me to the airport at 6am. The only little blip this morning was when took a wrong turn heading to the car rental place, which wasn’t at the airport, and had a slight jammer when I realized I didn’t know exactly where the rental place was. I left the hotel with a good idea of where it was but took a left when I should have gone right. Oh well, no biggie. I had left myself plenty of time and things worked out OK.
So, now I’m just riding the friendly skies. Then it will be into the video suite to edit up the video for your viewing pleasure. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as to the progress.
Thanks for reading
Saturday, February 25th
Ry Moran
Well, I’m heading off to see Trent tomorrow morning so this will be short entry. Trent’s place is about a three-hour drive from here and it looks like it is going to be raining so I’ll have to be on the road early. I really love the drive up island and never seem to get tired of it. Once you pass through Nanaimo, the road widens up and there are no more traffic lights and generally the traffic is fairly light. You can make the trip to Courtney now in about three hours…it used to take five!
Monday, February 27th
Ry Moran
I’m back in Victoria and the recording went great. It is so much fun playing with Trent. He is an awesome fiddle player. I made it to his place at around 11 am and we got started right away. I wanted to capture a variety of songs and styles and I think Trent did an excellent job of explaining the variations and differences in the different fiddle styles.
I actually learned quite a bit on this trip…for example, I didn’t really understand what made the Métis fiddle sound the way it does. I had just always known the fiddle to sound that way, but when Trent played Whiskey Before Breakfast as a bluegrass player would with “long bows” the Métis style became instantly recognizable.
Trent and I also recorded a version of a song that I wrote a few years back. The song is called “On My Mind.” I have wrestled with an arrangement for that song for quite awhile but I think I may have fallen in love with the fiddle in that track. It just seems to suit the piece better than all the other arrangements that I have tried. The take that you will see in the fiddle video is an unrehearsed take; that is literally the first time Trent and I have ever played it together, which I think speaks to Trent’s ability as a fiddle player.
So now I need to edit up this video and am looking forward to doing that. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Wednesday, March 14
Ry Moran
I’ve just crawled out of the edit suite where I have been chopping up all of the audio to be used on the site along with editing the videos. The audio is sounding great and I am pleased with the quality. The videos are also turning out well.
I have wrestled with what is most appropriate to do with the videos with Norman. My feeling is that it is best to leave them as full-length videos and to not edit them much at all. Somehow it feels wrong to shape his stories. I have no agenda in what I am trying to get him to say, nor do I feel I should shape his discussions. If I were trying to craft a story, then it would be appropriate for me to chop up his story.
The only concern I have with this is that the videos may be too long for most people to watch. I think what I will do is chop the videos in half, that way allowing the viewer to watch smaller portions of the interviews. If you have any thoughts, please let me know.
Thursday, March 22
Ry Moran
The pressure is on now to get the site wrapped up. I think we are going to be looking OK for the end of the month, but there always seems to be more stuff to take care of in the end that what was expected. I’ve got to do a bit more writing which is fine…I really enjoy writing. It will be great to see the site in finished form.
