'I shouldn't have to sacrifice my language rights'
Mother fights for GNWT to print her baby's Chipewyan name on birth certificate
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Monday, March 9, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Shene Catholique-Valpy’s daughter just celebrated her first birthday but as far as the government is concerned, she doesn’t exist.
Shene Catholique-Valpy’s daughter Sahaia was born last February but has been denied a birth certificate due to the Chipewyan symbol in her name. - photo courtesy of Shene Catholique-Valpy |
Since her birth last February in Yellowknife, Sahaia has been denied a birth certificate by territorial health authorities. The problem is a tiny linguistic symbol shaped like a question mark–called a glottal stop–in her name. Although the Northwest Territories has 11 official languages, including Chipewyan, when it comes to official documents, characters outside the Roman alphabet are not accepted.
"I’ve been waiting for about a year now and I have to pay for the medical bills every time she goes to the doctor," Catholique-Valpy told News/North.
"I can’t claim her. I can’t claim a universal tax or anything because she doesn’t exist."
Although she is living in Alberta and attending school, Catholique-Valpy said she made a point to come home to Yellowknife to have her baby because she assumed there would be no issue giving her daughter a traditional Chipewyan name.
"I go to the doctor and they have signs in different languages, so I know there’s a way they can do this. It’s just an extra step," she said. "There’s 11 official languages in the NWT, I shouldn’t have to sacrifice my language rights just so it fits in society."
Currently, Catholique-Valpy has filed a complaint with the Language Commissioner’s office but it could be a while before anything comes to fruition – even if she is successful, she worries about similar complications down the road.
"What about plane tickets? What about a passport? Little things like that, like when she goes to school what am I going to do, how am I going to deal with that?" she said.
Department of Health and Social Services communications manager Damien Healy said this is one of the main issues when it comes to issuing government documentation that includes indigenous characters.
"It is our understanding that using letters or symbols that are not recognized by the federal government or by other jurisdictions in Canada on a birth certificate would create difficulties with obtaining identification documents later in life," he said.
Healy said Vital Statistics agrees residents of the territory may reasonably expect to register their children's names using any of the official languages. However, including Dene fonts is not as simple as it may seem.
"Respecting aboriginal languages and culture is a priority of the Department of Health and Social Services," he said, adding they are limited by current equipment and other federal restrictions.
"The current Vital Statistics database and printer do not accommodate the glottal stops or other non-standard diacritics and significant resources would be needed to upgrade them," he said. "The Vital Statistics Act requires the name of a child be written entirely in the letters of the Roman alphabet."
Dr. Arok Wolvengrey, head of the Department of Indigenous Languages, Arts and Cultures at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina, says with today’s technology there is no reason special characters cannot be accommodated, but such requests continue to meet resistance.
"Now so much is digital and with the fonts that are all available there’s really no reason for that kind of restriction," he explained.
Incorporating traditional language into everyday life is a key factor in preventing cultural erosion, Wolvengrey says, adding if a language is given official status by a government it should be included in its literature.
"Writing systems definitely play a role in helping to promote the language so when kids grow up playing video games and seeing books and they don’t see their own language represented, they feel, ‘Oh well I could learn that, but I need English to do this or do that’ … and they don’t see the same level of tools available in their own language," he said.
"It’s a contrary signal there, if there are official languages but then they don’t actually allow them to be represented properly."
Catholique-Valpy’s lawyer, Shannon Gullburg, was hesitant to comment on the file as the investigation is ongoing but hopes the case will generate awareness of the broader issues at play.
"It’s an interesting and complex issue we’re raising," she said. "Yes it’s (Shene’s) issue, but just in the nature of the complaint, it raises broader issues so you don’t want to deal with it as sort of a one-off."
Even though she has been told her situation is unique, Catholique-Valpy says she wonders if it’s merely a matter of no one coming forward to fight the system.
"I know there are names out there that could have used (symbols), but the option just wasn’t there," she says.
"It’s just one of those things where it won’t change unless somebody makes a ruckus about it."
Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley told News/North he has brought the topic to legislative assembly.
"We have official languages of which she is using one and so on that basis I’ve inquired with the minister whether (NWT) Vital Statistics will develop the capacity to register in the 11 official languages."
For now, Catholique-Valpy says she has decided to substitute an apostrophe for the glottal stop to meet government requirements, but has asked the traditional spelling be included in a line below on her daughter’s birth certificate.
"I’m not asking too much, I feel. I just want them to recognize the languages in the territory and be able to write it like that, at least on her birth certificate," she said.
As the case continues to develop, the meaning behind Sahaia’s name seems to gain significance.
"It means when the sun breaks, when the sun breaks through the clouds or … on the horizon," Catholique-Valpy explained. "It’s coming through something."
