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First Words: Bruce Starlight speaks Tsuut'ina

In this episode of First Words, Bruce Starlight explains why there are only 29 speakers of Tsuut'ina left and teaches you a short, conversational way to greet someone.
CBC Radio · CBC Radio ·
This week's episode of First Words features Bruce Starlight, who is one of 29 remaining Tsuut'ina speakers left in the world. (Nelly Alberola/Radio-Canada, CBC)

First Words is a weekly podcast focused on Indigenous languages. Each week, we welcome a new guest into the hosting chair to teach us three words in their language. 

Bruce Starlight is one of 29 Tsuut'ina speakers left in the world.

"The Tsuut'ina, in 1920-21, after the Spanish Flu, we were just left with 120 people," Starlight said. "The healthcare and the residential schools also took their toll."

Starlight, who served as the nation's language commissioner, has dedicated much of his life to language preservation. He shares his knowledge both in the Tsuut'ina reserve and elsewhere, like Grande Prairie.

But it's not the same Tsuut'ina his ancestors spoke. "When you're poor, like us, we were very poor, and you have to think more about your survival," he said. 

Bits of the language were literally lost in translation — but the fight to keep it alive is still strong, even with fewer than 30 speakers left.

"We're still here, and we're not going to go away," Starlight said.

"No matter what."

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