Create an Account Sign In
Toggle Side Panel
TREES Network
TREES Network
Close search

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

Language Lives Between Us

A child does not meet language through lessons alone. It reaches them through the people and places around them. In the videos below, speakers share how language strengthens identity, belonging and connection across generations. 

  • George Bahm of Teslin Tlingit Council, Yukon, reflects on how language and culture connect people with where they come from and help them understand who they are. 

  • Violet Meguinis of Tsuut’ina Nation, Alberta, speaks about teaching children their language as a source of identity and connection to their ancestors. 

  • Elder Patricia Rain of Pigeon Lake, Alberta, reflects on why opportunities to hear and learn language should begin in the early years. 

More Than Words 

Language lives between people. It is there in greetings at the door and talk around the table, in jokes and stories everyone knows by heart. Through these exchanges, children discover more than the names of things. They begin to understand how people relate to one another and to the world around them. 

A language carries its own humour and memory. It holds ways of understanding the Land and ties children to the people and places from which they come. 

For many families, colonial policies damaged these lines of connection by punishing speakers and separating children from family and community. Returning to a language can bring joy, but it can also feel tender or uncertain. No one has to know every word before beginning. 

Each small use makes room for another. When children hear their language spoken with care, they learn that it belongs not only to the past but to the life unfolding around them. Because every language comes from a particular people and place, this work should be guided by its speakers and by the families and communities to whom it belongs. 

Try it in Your Practice: Create a Monthly Language Calendar 

With guidance from local speakers and families, create a calendar of words and short phrases connected to what children are living now—the season, the weather, community events or familiar routines. If possible, add recordings or QR codes so children, families and educators can listen and learn together. 

The Anishinabek Nation’s 2026 Giizisoo-Mzinigan offers a beautiful example.

Explore More Within TREES

TAKE YOUR LEARNING FURTHER

  • Barbara Nolan’s animated Anishinaabemowin videos bring children into the language through humour, movement and everyday adventures. Created with Anishinaabe teacher and video producer Esbikenh, the immersion-style episodes let meaning emerge through action and context, without needing every word translated. 
  • Ahtahkakoop Education has turned English nursery rhymes into the Cree language with indigenous imagery that is sure to catch the eye of young children.
Back to Themed Series

Related Resources

2026 © The Martin Family Initiative. All rights reserved.

The Training & Resources for Early Education & Schools (TREES) Network is a space for delivering and accessing culturally appropriate training, professional development, resources, communities of practice and mentorship opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous early learning professionals working with Indigenous children and families.

By coming together across communities, organizations and cultures, we can impact the bigger picture of Indigenous early education, child assessment and policy in Canada, so that Indigenous children will grow up proud of their culture and knowing that they belong.

The vision of the TREES Network is for early learning professionals to feel supported through training, resources and connections with others. The TREES Network strives to support early learning professionals to ground Indigenous children in their culture, nurturing stronger communities.

ACCESS TRAINING

The TREES Network supports access to culturally appropriate training and professional development for early learning professionals through the Understanding the Early Years course and Early Years Toolbox workshops. View upcoming trainings and workshops for your community through the Events Calendar.

EXPLORE RESOURCES

The TREES Network supports access to the Early Years Toolbox website, as well as access to accompanying resources through the Early Learning Library. Your access to resources is determined by your organization or community affiliation. Explore the Featured Partners page to view resources created by and in collaboration with Early Years partners.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS

To promote relationship-building and relational learning, the TREES Network provides opportunities for early learning professionals to build connections across the country. You can check out the Events Calendar to find events related to the early years, view the Interactive Map of early years services in different regions, or learn more about Supportive Circles as spaces to come together with others locally or across communities to share thoughts, ideas and support.

CREATE IMPACT

The TREES Network strives to create spaces through which we can collectively impact the bigger picture of Indigenous early learning in Canada. Learn about how Early Years sites are doing this through Early Years approach innovations, and about the important work many other organizations are doing to influence policy, curriculum, access to funding supports and program evaluation.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.