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6 COMMUNITY DIGEST Feb. 1-8, 2013 CANADA Iranian refugees in Turkey by S. Jiwa Canada to resettle up to 5,000 Iranian and Iraqi refugees by 2018 OTTAWA -- Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced plans to resettle up to 5,000 Iranian and Iraqi refugees, presently in Turkey, by 2018. Citing “escalating violence in the region,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney outlined his government’s intention to “help Turkey deal with this growing pressure.” He also commended the government of Turkey “for keeping her borders open to those fleeing the ongoing conflict in the region.” It is expected that this undertaking will help ease the existing burden on Turkey, freeing up the Turkish government’s resources to deal with the current influx of Syrians seeking protection in the country. Kenney reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to its 2009 and 2010 pledges of resettling 20,000 Iraqi refugees. To date, it has resettled 12,000, most of them from Syria. Most of the refugees will be referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for resettlement. Canada is one of a few countries operating a resettlement program out of Turkey, and is second only to the United States as a destination for refugees from the region. WORLD by S. Merali Australian prof proposes a ‘de-Britified’ new flag CANBERRA -- A new flag has been designed in Australia in a bid to “move on” from the country’s colonial past. Military historian Dr John Blaxland, of the Australian National University, came up with the idea because he says the current one does not embrace all aspects of Australian culture. His flag contains 250 dots to the left to represent the many Aboriginal dialects as well as the immigrant languages spoken on the streets of Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and other towns and cities across the nation. There is also a red section in the shape of a boomerang, and a traditional representation in green and yellow of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. But he says he did not want to completely disregard modern Australia’s British roots and added a white stripe to ‘echo’ that on the British Union Flag, which occupies the top left quarter of the present Australian flag. ‘We can move on, we can reflect on our history but also acknowledge in the design... that we can’t completely trash the British heritage,’ he added Rather than just a straightforward nod to the country’s British heritage, he says he wanted a flag that acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal communities as well as its growing multiculturalism. “People can identify with various parts of it and see that Australia is actually a multicultural place with a rich history that reaches back for generations,” he said. Australian author and former rugby union player Peter FitzSimons also backed calls for a new flag, saying the current one “is no longer a symbol that unites us (but) it divides us.” Proposed new Australian flag
Feb. 1-8, 2013 PEOPLE by Bev Betkowski U. of A. graduate writes e-books for Cree kids EDMONTON -- During her Cree language classes at the University of <strong>Alberta</strong>, Caylie Gnyra had to translate sentences posted by her instructor, Dorothy Thunder. Struck by the whimsy of one of the lines, Gnyra, who graduated in 2010 from the U of A Faculty of Native Studies, adopted it for a class project that has since turned into an online tool for Cree language teachers across <strong>Alberta</strong>. What Colour Are Your Little Ducks?/Tân’sesinâkosiwak kisîsîpimisiwâwak became the title of an electronic book that Gnyra created for a class project, and that has inspired more e-books that have just gone online free of charge at www.littlecreebooks.com With some funding through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada via the Faculty of Native Studies, Gnyra designed the cheery, colourful book to introduce young learners to a string of characters and their rainbow-hued pet ducks. The book has Plains Cree text written in Standard Roman Orthography—the letters used when writing in English— and Cree syllabics, as well as their English translations. Gnyra wanted to develop material that could be used for little cost in Cree classrooms throughout the province, viewed on SMART boards for group reading, printed off for individual use, or even viewed on tablets and smartphones at home. She has since created two more such books: one about the seasons, written for a Grade 1 reading level, and one about the daily activities of a young bear, for kindergarten children. Both are designed to mesh with the province’s established Cree language education curriculum. Gnyra hopes that instructors of other Algonquian languages will adapt the books to reflect the grammar and vocabulary of those languages, which are closely related to Cree. Though she is not Aboriginal and is still learning to speak and write Cree herself, Gnyra is enchanted by the cultural nuances of the language and feels deeply committed to helping preserve it. “Cree is a very pretty language to the ear and it has a lot of humorous or thought-provoking aspects,” she says. “Learning it helps me recognize how culture really is embedded in all languages, including English.” A self-described introvert, Gnyra also appreciates the many COMMUNITY DIGEST 7 Caylie Gnyra and her latest e-book in Cree ways that Cree culture values and facilitates introspection. “North American culture tends to promote and validate extroversion, so I think one of the reasons I am so interested in spending time learning about Cree culture and language is that I feel like that very integral part of me is valued.” Her dedication to exploring Cree language and culture was kindled by an interest in social justice. “While many Canadians are concerned about inequality, injustice and related social issues in other countries, a lot of us just don’t know the details of the difficult history we share with our indigenous neighbours, or we don’t quite know where to start in terms of improving Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations,” she said. Gnyra enrolled in the U. of A.’s two-year after-degree program in Native Studies, then postponed her graduation for a year to participate in a student internship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and take a third year of Cree language classes at the U of A. After graduating, Gnyra went on to take a master’s degree in museum studies in Toronto, where she did some work for the newly established Canadian Language Museum. In keeping with her advocacy for the Cree language, she asked for and received permission to prepare a related exhibit, which she hopes will be ready for 2015, after she consults with Cree elders, speakers and learners. Meanwhile, Gnyra hopes to add at least five more e-books to the lineup of her Cree readers, one each for grades 2 through 6. She envisions the Little Cree Books site as a resource dedicated to the unique grammatical rules that make sense when learning Cree.
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