BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - Crystal Richardson wants to be able to stand up in front of her community and speak so they all understand.

Behchoko resident Crystal Richardson, 24, has enrolled in literacy classes to learn the Tlicho language – from her mother. - photo courtesy of Crystal Richardson

"That's my goal, one day. It's probably going to take me a long time, but I'm hoping to get there."

The 24-year-old single mother from Behchoko is one of a handful of young adults and older residents who are learning - or being re-introduced to - the Tlicho Dogrib language as part of a literacy course sponsored by the Tlicho Community Services Agency. The number of aboriginal language speakers across the territory is dwindling. Only 2,617 reported fluency to the GNWT in 2009.

But Richardson has always wanted to be one of them. And not just because her mother, Mary Richardson, is teaching the course.

"A lot of people know me as someone who doesn't speak or understand it and I'd like to surprise them," she said. "There are still a lot of elders here that only speak Dogrib and understand it. I'd hope to work around the community and be able to talk in front of people and also be able to translate myself."

According to a 2009 NWT Bureau of Statistics report, 90 per cent of Tlicho residents speak an aboriginal language. Although the highest in the territory the figures have dwindled since 1989 when it was reported to be 96 per cent.

Others taking the course have mastered speaking the language's many dialects and now want to brush up on their reading and writing, skills Mary has been teaching since 1986.

Her daughter remembers waiting at her mother's adult education classroom after elementary school, listening to her teach.

"I thought it was really cool," she said.

But now that she's one of those adult students, Crystal said she's not the teacher's pet.

"I don't want other students to think I have better privileges," she added.

After a week in the course, Crystal said she's picking up the language quickly but acknowledges speaking it as a beginner takes a lot of practice that the aspiring miner must balance with her busy schedule. She plans to take audio recordings of the lessons so she can practise her pronunciation even while

she's not at the learning centre. As she works to become fluent and get more in touch with Tlicho oral tradition, Crystal hopes her two-year-old daughter will represent a third generation of Dogrib speakers in the family.

"My mom speaks Dogrib to her sometimes and tells her to say Mahsi, say thank you, and she does

it pretty well," she said.

The course runs in Behchoko until Dec. 5. There is a possibility the course may be extended to culminate in a class performance of a Tlicho song at the community's upcoming Christmas concert.

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