Language is at the centre of the head, at the centre of the human being, at the centre of the community. It modulates our way of thinking about life and seeing what surrounds us in a common way, shared for ages. It is articulated and thought out in movement, just as movement emphasises the meaning of our actions and words. It has been developed and learned in movement, on the land, between two paddle strokes, during portages and other journeys. Language is what makes it possible for us to have nothing bigger and nothing smaller in our heads, but everything completes each other to form a harmonious whole. It is what has made it possible to transmit our history and culture, first from ear to ear, then through writing. Sometimes imposed, sometimes silenced and banished, it has been weakened, punished, colonised, invaded by the words of another language, soiled by the mouths of another culture. Today, we must take care of it, clean it with tenderness and feed it. It carries the hope, the values and the autonomy of the nation.
