îethka wîchorhâge
îkpathobikte chach
Duwe îgiyebi?
(Who are we? What is our true identity?)
Nedâhâ yeîgichiyabi ze ech
(Our starting point)
(Welcome to Anûkathâ Hotu Îethka Society)
îgahnustâtisî chiyen îethka îabi nâgu wîchorahâge gichi
(Presenting Stoney Nakoda Culture and Language)
îethka îabi nâgu wîchorâge
gichi îgahnûstabisî chiyen
(Our true identity is our language and our culture)
Châgu îgiyabi ze ech
(The Pathway)
Nechen îgitachâgube ze ech
(We will walk the talk)
Dagu cha rhtîjagaîhnûbi cha ûth yeîgichiyabith
(Begin with what we have kept, of our ways, so dearly and passionately)
Wîthpe wîchakiyabi ne nâgâhâ doken îhnoîyâbikta
(Changing the direction of education)
Togadam mnethebinâ cha uth hûîyagabi chiyén
(Vision)
Doki îkûbigahesta owastejaga îgihnebiktach
(Wherever we go, we go with joy and respect )
Wawîjaginabi ke îhnûhabiktach
(Bring the spirit back to our humanity)
Without our language our ways are lost. Revitalizing the Stoney Nakoda Sioux language as spoken by the Iethka people in the First Nations of Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Good Stoney in Alberta, is core to preserving our identity from which spring our cultural practices, traditions, worldviews and way of living that have been passed down for generations. Our location here in the Rocky Mountains and nestled aside the Bow River is an essential part of our story and identity. Language is a living entity. Its revitalization is an act of resurrection against a backdrop of erasure of culture and life through the ongoing process of colonization.