Cutting-Edge Culture

As a culture at the dawn of breakthrough technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, we know that preserving our history is just as important as building our future.

Colonialism and the residential school system has all but erased Indigenous spoken languages in Canada. Traditionally passed down by community Elders, they are now at risk of being lost with these older generations. 

First Nations Storytellers (FNS) have recognized the potential for AI to preserve ancient languages before they disappear forever. In partnership with Metepenagiag Heritage Park, FNS is working to create a definitive Mi’kmaq dictionary, known as Elder AI. Gathering a network of fluent Mi’kmaq speakers, Elder AI will develop a Custom Language Model that would train an Al tool to provide culturally accurate translations. This means teaching AI to learn, preserve and teach the Mi’kmaq language for generations to come. 

The (IRF) is proud to contribute to a program that will help immortalize traditions and revitalize culture in Indigenous communities. The IRF will assist with travel to reach and record fluent Mi’kmaq speakers in-community, volunteer honorariums, language classes for program developers and program administration. 

FNS and Metepenagiag Heritage Park have already begun the groundwork, acquiring equipment and beginning an online compilation of Mi’kmaq words. This program will become a key tool relied on for translations, creating language lessons, transitioning between orthographies and updating old ones. It will also focus on eliminating Euro-centric definitions in historical dictionaries and documents, returning ancestral knowledge to its authentic form. 

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) believes this program will be wildly successful and become a valuable resource adopted by many communities in the future.

Diocese of Saint John