Residential schools tried to eradicate Mi'kmaw. The language needs help to survive

Teacher Noreen Sylliboy stands in front of a class of Grade 5 students and starts with a simple lesson that names the days of the week and the seasons, speaking in a language that only a few thousand Nova Scotians know. 

She is trying to do her part to revitalize Mi'kmaw, a language that Canada's Indian residential school system once tried to destroy. 

"I love to hear my language. I love speaking it," Sylliboy said.

Saturday marked National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which honours the children forced to attend residential schools in Canada, and their families and communities.

In its landmark 2015 report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that residential schools were part of a collective, calculated effort to eradicate Indigenous language and culture.

In her classroom at a middle school in Truro, N.S., in front of a mix of Mi'kmaw and non-Mi'kmaw students, Syliboy is part of an effort to reverse that.

She learned the language through her elders and family members growing up in Eskasoni First Nation in Cape Breton. 

She began teaching at Truro Middle School about a decade ago, picking up the mantle from Melody Googoo, who had started the Mi'kmaw language course at the school.

Sylliboy said she wants the language to be spoken and taught across Nova Scotia. First Nations can help with programming, but she said the provincial government and school districts need to work to bring more Mi'kmaw language teachers on board.

"The province can definitely continue to support and continue to fund our programs for culture and language," Sylliboy said. "We need to speed up on the language aspect of our reconciliation."

The Truro Middle School has a funding partnership with nearby Millbrook First Nation and the Chignecto-Central Regional Centre for Education to incorporate the course in the school's curriculum. 

"A lot of my learning has to do with understanding our language structure," Sylliboy said. "It's very different from English and I can't always apply the way that English is spoken to Mi'kmaw."

Mi'kmaw is heavily verb-based, she said, while English is more noun-based. Teaching Mi'kmaw can be "tricky." 

Gordon Pictou from Millbrook First Nation helps incorporate Mi'kmaw culture into the curriculum at 66 schools in the Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education.