(Submitted/ Cori Pederson)

By Nigel Maxwell

Indigenous languages

Muskoday and MLCN introducing bilingual traffic signs

Oct 6, 2022 | 6:44 PM

In the coming weeks, people travelling through Muskoday First Nation and Montreal Lake Cree Nation (MLCN) will notice something a little different about the traffic signage.

Signs that advise people when to stop, when to yield, or when to slow for children, will include both English and Cree text.

The initiative was made possible through SGI ‘s traffic safety grants. Muskoday First Nation’s portion was over $4,200 and Cori Pederson, the community’s Justice Coordinator, said the response has been great.

“We are all learning our language here, so it’s an exciting time to see that,” she said.

In the past, the community’s traffic signs have been spray painted with graffiti. Noting her hope that these new signs will deter vandals, Pederson said all the signs on the community’s east side are getting replaced.

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“Kind of like along River Street in Prince Albert,” she explained

North of Prince Albert, Montreal Lake Cree Nation received over $18,000 for Cree bilingual signage. Charlotte Ross is the Cree language project coordinator at MLCN and expects the signs to go out in the coming weeks.

“I think its an acclamation, a validation of our language because we don’t see our language in very many places,” she said.

The signs are actually part of a bigger initiative within the community. Among the projects being explored by the Cree language committee are language classes and a languages app.

“As a speaker, you take your language for granted until you realize that intergenerational transmission isn’t happening,” Ross explained.

Ross is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in indigenous languages at the University of Victoria and explained part of what they are learning about is intergenerational loss.

“So if it’s not being transmitted from the grandparents to the parents, or the parents to the children, then it takes much more effort to keep the language going,” she said.

Provincial Traffic Safety Fund grants are awarded to communities twice a year, using proceeds from Photo Speed Enforcement (PSE).

A total of 492 community traffic safety projects have been funded, totaling more than $6 million, since the Provincial Traffic Safety Fund was established in 2019.

The most recent grants, which were announced in June, were valued at $1.34M for 85 projects. SGI Spokesperson Tyler McMurchy reflected on his personal wish there wasn’t a lot of money in this fund, and people obeyed speed limits and never got a photo speed enforcement ticket.

“But the people who do decide to speed past those clearly marked photo speed enforcement zones and do get a ticket, their fine revenue helps pay for traffic safety initiatives throughout the province,” McMurchy said.

Eligible traffic safety initiatives (including projects, equipment, programs, and public awareness) must focus on one of the following priority areas: speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, occupant protection, and intersection safety.

Applications are reviewed by a committee made up of representatives from the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, the Prince Albert Grand Council, the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Highways and SGI.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell