National Day of Truth and Reconciliation: Naskapi Development Corporation Marks 40 Years of Preserving Naskapi Language and Culture

QUEBEC CITY, Sept. 30, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - The Naskapi Development Corporation wishes to highlight the importance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. This day honors the children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and their communities. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of Indigenous language and culture. It is a time to advance our efforts at reconciliation to build a better future for all members of our society.

The federal government has established a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2021 and is calling for action to advance reconciliation, which must include adequate funding for Indigenous language and culture.

The Naskapi Development Corporation wishes to launch a call to action to remind the provincial and federal governments of their commitment to preserve and promote the language and culture of the Naskapi within the Canadian and Quebec society. For more than 40 years, governments have recognized through various agreements the importance of protecting the language and culture of First Nations, including the Naskapi, but the means to achieve this are insufficient and far less than those allocated to the protection of the French language. However, the risk associated with the decline of Naskapi culture is all too real.

"While this day is an opportunity to commemorate the tragic history of residential schools and to pay tribute to the victims and their families, I encourage everyone to mobilize to ensure the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures. Furthermore, I invite all Quebecers and Canadians to be active agents in their respective communities. True reconciliation will take place when Aboriginal peoples have access to economic security and can live in their language and culture," said Andy-John Dominique, President.

About the Naskapi Development Corporation

The Naskapi Development Corporation is a corporation that has been in operation since 1979. It is incorporated under the Naskapi Development Corporation Act. Its objectives are to relieve Naskapi poverty, to encourage education and to attempt to empower the community, to improve the living conditions, to encourage the development of Kawawachikamach and to encourage and assist in the preservation of the Naskapi language, values, culture and traditions

SOURCE Naskapi Development Corporation

Andrew Dunn, Ryan Affaires publiques, [email protected], T. 514.616.8855