COVER N. 619 - CANADA 

Postmark: Canada Post Postes Canada Canoe B.C.  24.07.2025

Posted on the 24th July; Received on the 4th August 2025

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Thank you so much Edward, for such a nice cover from Canada with an issue celebrating the future. "And why do I say that, you may ask?"

Well, we tend to forget that languages are just as perennial as the existence of their users.... when the last speaker of a tongue passes away, especially in cases where there are no written records or recordings, so does the treasure he/she carried throughout his/her life.

Since 2022, Canada Post has been issuing stamp sets honouring Indigenous Leaders, as a way to highlight and acknowledge the role played by distinguished leaders of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in the promotion and safeguarding of each people's history and culture, language being, of course, central to both.

This year's issue of the Indigenous Leaders series, which began to circulate on 20JUL2025, honours  three such leaders that have dedicated their lives to preserving the culture and improving the quality of life of their peoples, with a strong commitment to the preservation of their native languages.

Since the release notes for the set are very enlightening as to the role each of these leaders played in the preservation  of their people's culture, I will quote directly from them, hoping this may be considered fair usage:

Julia Haogak Ogina

Witnessing the erosion of her Inuit heritage spurred Julia Haogak Ogina (b. 1962, Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories) to devote her life to revitalizing the culture and languages of her ancestors. As colonization fragmented families and undermined traditions, she noticed that lessons once learned through singing, dancing and storytelling were gradually being lost.

Ogina worked with anthropologist Richard G. Condon on The Northern Copper Inuit: A History (1996) to document the rapid pace of socio-economic change experienced by her community. In 2017, the accomplished drum dance teacher and leader helped publish Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit (Stories Told through Drum Dance Songs). The project involved a decade-long consultation with Elders to retrieve forgotten drum dance songs – which she sees as a conduit for ancestral knowledge and “a window into all the strengths of our people.”

In nearly two decades with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Ogina has contributed to the creation of a regional language framework and programs promoting oral learning and knowledge transfer. In 2020, she was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal for her efforts to protect and promote Inuit culture and traditions.

Sophie McDougall

Sophie McDougall (née Margaret Sophie Boyer, 1928-2023) shared extensive knowledge of her Métis culture and language with generations of students and community members over her long life. She was born in St. Louis, Saskatchewan – a descendant of one of the area’s original settlers. As a Métis woman, McDougall experienced discrimination at teachers’ college but faced it with courage and determination. She graduated at age 17 and spent many years as a devoted schoolteacher.

An Elder with the Prince Albert Métis Women’s Association in Saskatchewan for 20 years, she translated books and other materials into Michif, the traditional language of the Métis. Michif is categorized as critically endangered by UNESCO.

McDougall was a dedicated Language Keeper who also worked with many organizations in Prince Albert to document and teach the regional dialect Michif French. She appeared in the YouTube series Métis Women Stories when she was in her late 80s and later contributed to the creation of the Learn Michif French app. In 2023, McDougall received the Order of Gabriel Dumont Gold Medal in recognition of her lifetime of service to the Métis of Canada.

Bruce Starlight

Known as Dit'óní Didlishí (Spotted Eagle), Bruce Starlight is one of the last fluent speakers of the Tsúut'ínà language. Born in 1947 on the Tsúut'ínà Nation near Calgary, Alberta, the Elder and Knowledge Keeper has worked hard for more than five decades to save his language and culture from extinction.

Although he had to leave high school to help support his family after his father died, Starlight went on to study linguistics at the University of Calgary later in life. Frustrated by a lack of support for the teaching of Tsúut'ínà, he began to document its alphabet, words and phrases. Starlight founded the Tsúut'ínà Gunáhà Násʔághà – an institute dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of his mother tongue – and served as language commissioner for the Tsúut'ínà Nation.

Also an accomplished teacher and speaker, he has developed extensive materials for Tsúut'ínà instruction, including dictionaries and recordings. Starlight recently collaborated on a collection of traditional narratives and historical accounts in Tsúut'ínà and a Tsúut'ínà-to-English glossary. He is still active as a cultural mentor, adviser and ambassador. In 2023, he received an honorary doctorate from Mount Royal University.

The nice pictorial postmark depicting two persons transporting a canoe hails from the semi-rural community of Canoe, in British Columbia, a part of the city of Salmon Arm.