Iqaluit (Feb 17/03) - Wise words can come from anywhere, but too often they only come from the mouths of Big Shots: people elected to government, or people appointed to public positions.

That's how they got there. They seem to have more to say than most of us.

But when it comes to talking about language, powerful words can come from many people.

At a recent public meeting to determine what official languages Nunavut should have, a lot of clear things were said that did not come from the MLAs who form the official committee, or from official delegations.

These "other" words are worth hearing.

"We would like to hear comments from your heart," said committee member David Iqaqrialu.

He got them. Here are a selection:

- "When your lips are cold, it's hard to speak. That's how it is for me to speak English." -- Celestine Erkidjuk, an elder.

- "In 1962 I was sent to a boarding school to be a white person. It was very scary. The schools are the ones that are eroding the language. I wouldn't be speaking it now if I hadn't been given a solid grounding in it from my parents." - John Illupalik, an Iglulik businessman.

- "Since the Europeans came, the Inuktitut language has changed. No matter what we do to enrich our language, there never seems to be anybody out there to support us. Even where you speak Inuktitut, you are replied to in English." - Jonah Kelly.

- "We don't use the traditional observations of weather the way we used to. The traditional tools of our forefathers are used as ornaments in our houses." - Geetaloo Kakee.

- "Unilingual elders go through hardships if services are only in English. Even trying to order a restaurant meal, they have a hard time (because menus are English-only). Private businesses should have to translate their documents into Inuktitut, especially if they are public documents." - Rhoda Palluq.

- "If I see a non-native representing us, I feel as if we Inuit are incapable of representing ourselves." - Mary Wilman.

- "Our lifestyles have changed from living in an iglu or sod houses to the present houses we live in, in this modern age of technology. We have lived in two totally different lifestyles in one generation. We've had to sacrifice a little bit of our culture to learn about other cultures. But if we are going to teach a child English, then you have to teach the child Inuktitut at the same level. But it's not just for the schools -- it is also the responsibility of the parents to teach the Inuktitut language." - Elisapie Davidee.

- "We had a Newfoundland teacher to teach us English. When he'd try to teach us 'proper English', he'd say (the letter "H" as) 'haitch' instead of 'aitch'. Then we had a teacher from England who told us we weren't speaking English properly even though we were doing it as the Newfoundland teacher told us. When Europeans came up North, we know our lifestyle was improved. I'd like to recognize those things, even if they weren't part of our culture. But for the youth, as long as we bind their language by the laws, they should be able to speak the language as they want to." - Johnny Mike.

- "At times I feel sorry for elders who are unilingual. Even though I like my job very much, I find I have to change my thinking to think in English as well as speak in English. It seems the English language is eroding the Inuktitut language even though this isn't done on purpose. In our churches, even though their preachers are not Inuit, they have no choice but to learn Inuktitut to preach. Private business should do this also. Without using the language, we lose words for a lot of things. For example, 'cooing a child' is an expression that's part of Inuit culture, but if I try to tell them what it is in English, it would not come out properly." - Peesee Pitsiulaq.

- "There should be more Inuit characters in children's TV programs. The CBC should use more closed captioning in Inuktitut for all sorts of programs, from comedies to what Peter Mansbridge says on the news." - Derek Emmons