(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy that we have a special day for celebrating aboriginal languages. I know there are many people in the NWT who work very hard to preserve our languages and use them in schools, offices, homes and in the other communities. I would like to thank all these people for all the hard work they are doing. I also envy those people who speak the Dene languages. I want to thank my colleagues for supporting aboriginal languages in this Legislature. I think in all of North America, we are the only people who recognize aboriginal languages. (Translation ends)
I learned the languages from my parents, and from my brothers and sisters. I thank them for that. I will always remember what they have taught me and I am proud of it. I would urge all the people who are not able to speak Inuktitut, who are of Inuit descent, to learn the language. It is so rich, Mr. Speaker. When you lose your language, you lose part of your culture. When I speak my language, I know the right word to describe exactly what I mean. For example, if I say to an Inuktitut speaking person, "this is my cousin," that person knows exactly which part of my family he or she belongs to, whether it is my father's side or my mother's side, by saying one word.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday Mr. John Pollard asked me "What is the word for water in Inuktitut?" So, I gave him a list of things describing salt water, fresh water, water on top of the ice, lake water, drinking water, river water and he was amazed at the different words we use in our language. I cannot always explain myself so well in English. I am always trying to find words which express exactly the same thing as Inuktitut words, but many times they do not exist. Mr. Speaker, we speak different languages, we think of things in a different way...