FIT Panel Discussion | The Role of Indigenous Language Translation in the Midst of Climate Change: Negotiating displacement, loss of land, language and culture

Saturday 25 November, 6PM – 9PM CET

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FIT invites Indigenous experts and anyone interested in Indigenous matters as well as all translators, interpreters and terminologists to attend a free webinar on the topic of climate change and its impact on Indigenous language, culture and way of life. For Indigenous peoples world-wide, climate change constitutes a human rights issue. But how much further has climate change affected Indigenous ways of life in terms of language and culture? How are some of these changes reflected in critical discourse, in oral and written texts, and in day-to-day language revitalization? How do Indigenous languages grapple with the emergence of a strange new scientific language that describes the phenomena of climate change? And how can translation here become a force of change addressing these narratives?

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Our panelists from Canada, South Africa and Russia will each address the topic from a different perspective, presenting on and interacting with the challenge of climate change and the role of translation in contending with displacement, loss of land, language and culture. The session will consist of presentations by each of the panelists followed by a discussion and a question-and-answer session.

The webinar will take place on Zoom on Saturday 25 November from 6-9pm CET, and it will be mostly in English. There will be interpretation into English for presenters choosing to speak in their own Indigenous language.

Our Presenters:

From Canada

Elder Wayne Jackson: From Goodfish Lake First Nations Treaty Six Territory, Alberta, Canada. Instructor, resource developer and Director of Nehiyawe Cultural Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. He will present on: “nipiy ê-pimâcîhikoyahk”: How water sustains us and gives us life in relation to language and culture.

Dr. Marilyn Shirt: From Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta is the Team Lead (Dean) for the Indigenous Language program at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’įnistameyimakanak Blue Quills (UnBQ). She will present on the Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Language Revitalization and Translation.

From Russia

Ksenia Dubrovskikh: Lecturer of Translation and Applied Linguistics at NArFU named after M.V. Lomonosov, Arkhangelsk. She will focus on Climate ChangeDiscourse and its Anthropomorphic Specifics.

Olga Latysheva: Deputy Director of the Ethno-Cultural Centre of the Nenets Autonomous District. She will focus on: Translation of Nenets Folklore and Climate Change Evidence in Oral Texts of the Nenets People.

From South Africa

Sibusiso Biyela: Science and research communicator at ScienceLink based in South Africa who has done extensive research on the Zulu Royal Family and the KwaZulu Natal province. He has done much work documenting the lifestyle of Indigenous tribes in South Africa. He will present on Applying the Principles of Science Communication and Decolonization in Translating the Science of Climate Change into African Languages.