LeBlanc had a conversation with Richelle Bear Hat (Blackfoot/Dane-zaa Cree, Nitsiipowahsin) and Alberta Rose W./Ingniq (Inuvialuit/Settler, Ummarmiutun) at the publication launch for pipon kona, nepin pesim. Bear Hat believes it’s important to share her experiences learning Nitsiipowahsin to offer a connecting point to others learning their ancestral language. Nitsiipowahsin was described to her by Reg and Rose Crowshoe as humbling yourself to the environment to hear the names of our non-human kin. She described language as softness, comfort, expansiveness of perception and understanding, an act of self-care. Working on her two-channel video, Nitssapaatsimaahkooka (she shared with me) (2019), has expanded how she relates with her family by bringing language revitalization into their conversations. Nitssapaatsimaahkooka features the memojis of Bear Hat (left screen) and her collaborator and grandma, Alona Theoret (right screen) teaching her Nitsiipowahsin. The first words spoken are Nitsiipowahsin. Bear Hat goes first, Theoret smiles, Bear Hat shakes her head seeming unsure of her pronunciation. Theoret replies and smiles encouragingly. Bear Hat asks Theoret how to say "sister," "this is my dad," and "this is my mom". Theoret translates and Bear Hat repeats as Theoret smiles encouragingly. The video ends with them bursting into laughter, which Bear Hat finds breaks the barrier of shyness she feels learning Nitsiipowahsin. Sometimes a challenge Bear Hat faces is muscles seeming to resist the inflections required for Nitsiipowahsin, but she is determined in learning her language and must make space for it, that held space is present throughout, in quiet moments between speaking, English only used to ask questions that will be answered by Nitsiipowahsin.

Rose W./Ingniq shared that she repeats random Uummarmiutun (a dialect of Inuvialuktun) words to herself during the day, around the house while performing mundane tasks, this seemingly simple act helps her remember words and maintain connection to her ancestral language. Seemingly small acts still hold power and exemplify resistance to and hopefully the eventual recovery from attempted linguistic genocide by the settler state.

I am slowly learning Kwak̓wala, my ancestral language; to witness others struggling, fiercely trying, and succeeding in learning theirs is a needed reassurance that I am not alone in the process. Even when that process is saying a few words over and over to myself. Ingniq commented that every little bit of culture is a treasure—I feel surrounded by treasures in pipon kona, nepin pesim, some that are for those who speak the languages present, some for everyone.

Don’t be shy, your name is Ingniq (Fire). Don’t be shy, learn with your relatives. Don’t be shy, to speak to the whale. Don’t be shy to demand what was taken to be given back. Don’t be shy, we’re still here.