Dln women team up to teach Indigenous languages through cooking

A Sahtu Dene language group is helping keep atraditional language alive by teachinghow to cook traditional foods.

Sahtu Dene Council Dln Language Committee member Mary Ann Vital teamed up with Dln home chef Marion Mackeinzoearlier this monthto launch a series of social media cooking videosin North Slavey.

"I'm so blessed to do this video because I really wanted to work with our youth," Vital told CBC.

The Northwest Territories is home to 11 official languages withnineIndigenous languages belonging to three language families Dene-Athapaskan, Inuit or Algonquian. There are five officialDene-Athapaskanlanguages spoke in the N.W.T. North Slavey is spoken primarily in Dln, Yellowknife/Ndilo, and Tulita

Most youth understandtraditional Dene languages, including North Slavey,but not everyone can speak it, Vital said. The women are hopeful the videos will help the younger generationlearn and retain more words.

'At first, I was kind of nervous'

So far, two recipe videoin NorthSlavey have been posted. They show how to makefan favourites bannock or ehte, and caribou stew. For some viewers, it was the first time learning certain words.

"I was surprised to see how many comments [we got] through my Facebook, especially with the young ones we got a lot of positive remarks," Vital said.

"At first I was kind of nervous," Mackeinzo said about being the star ofthe new cooking videos, but as a self-proclaimed cook she realized the opportunity she had to share herlove of language and cooking.

Using ingredients you would find in most northern homes makes it even more relatable.

"I cook anything, anything Aboriginallike caribou, moose, lake trout then I use western flavour to touch it up," Mackeinzo said with a laugh.

Videos are set to release on Tuesdays with the mini social cooking series set to run for the rest of the month.

Next week, stay tuned for a fish dish.