Indigenous Peoples of Canada: Let’s (also) talk about it in Japanese ~日本語でも話そう~
If you've been studying Japanese and you want to be able to talk about a wider variety of topics not covered in class or textbooks, this video may be for you.
Today, we're talking about indigenous peoples of present-day Canada and Truth and Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day, which is September 30th. We'll learn some important vocabulary, then look at 3 different article titles, and after that, we'll look at one paragraph from one of the articles in more detail.
The purpose of today's video is to empower you, as a Japanese language learner, to widen your scope of conversation and understanding so that when you speak with friends, when you watch Japanese TV shows, or read the news in Japanese, you feel better equipped to handle important topics not covered in classrooms and study materials.
Welcome to the second instalment of "Let's talk about it in Japanese".
Before we get into it, I would like to clarify that this is a very serious topic and should be handled with care. That being said, in order to stay focused on learning, and the fact that I believe that learning should be seen as a positive thing, you will see me smile throughout this video.
If you want to practise reading out loud, if you need repetition or you want to shadow, please feel free to pause and go back to rewatch or relisten to any section you’d like. And, at the end, please share your feedback in the comments. I’d love to know if you found this video to be a helpful step toward expanding your ability to communicate in Japanese on topics that your textbooks may not include.
Some Important Vocabulary
Let's begin by going over some important vocabulary. Some of the words we're about to look at you may already know, some you may not know.
The first and most important word is 先住民（せんじゅうみん/senjūmin), meaning indigenous person or people. So, we can say カナダの先住民（カナダのせんじゅうみん/kanada no senjūmin) to mean “indigenous peoples of Canada. For anyone curious about pitch accent, 先住民（せんじゅうみん/senjūmin) is a nakadaka word, where ん (n) & じゅ (ju) are higher pitch and the rest are low.
跡地（あとち/atochi) is a site or former site of a place
寄宿学校（きしゅくがっこう/kishuku gakkō) is the term used to refer to residential schools
文化的ジェノサイド（ぶんかてきジェノサイド/bunkateki jenosaido) is cultural genocide
同化政策（どうかせいさく/dōkaseisaku) is assimilation policy
遺骨（いこつ/ikotsu) and 遺体（いたい/itai) are sometimes used interchangeably when it comes to this particular topic, even though they mean different things. 遺骨（いこつ/ikotsu) refers to the bones or remains of a person, and 遺体（いたい/itai) refers to the body of a person who has passed. There is at least one other term used to refer to a body, but this is the more polite term.
追悼行事（ついとうぎょうじ/tsuitōgyōji) is a memorial event
真実と和解の日（しんじつとわかいのひ/shinjitsu to wakai no hi) is Truth and Reconciliation Day. 真実（しんじつ/shinjitu) means truth, and 和解（わかい/wakai) is reconciliation.
It’s not a thorough list of course, but these are some commonly used words when talking or reading about this topic.
Let’s Look at 3 Article Titles
Let's now look at 3 news article titles. The first one is from Canada Journal:
2023年 オレンジシャツデー（真実と和解の日） カナダの祝日 （2023年 オレンジシャツデー（しんじつとわかいのひ） カナダのしゅくじつ/2023nen Orenji shatsu dē (Shinjitsu to wakai no hi) Kanada no shukujitsu).
オレンジシャツデー (Orenji shatsu dē) is how we say Orange Shirt Day in Japanese. We can immediately recognize the term for Truth and Reconciliation Day in brackets, and if you know what 祝日（しゅくじつ/shukujitsu) means, you already know what the title of this article is in English: 2023 Orange Shirt Day or Truth and Reconciliation Day | Canada’s Holiday.
If you’re intersted, I recommend checking out this article in more detail. It’s written for Japanese people who are interested in studying English in Canada so it feels a bit more like a blog. The article describes Orange Shirt Day, how it came about, and includes a very brief history on the residential school system in Canada. It does this all in an easy-to-understand way.
Let’s try another article, this time from 日本経済新聞（にほんけいざいしんぶん/nihon keizai shimbun) or the Nikkei:
カナダの学校跡地に751の墓 先住民の子どもらの遺骨か（カナダのがっこうあとちに751のはか せんじゅうみんのこどもらのいこつか/Kanada no gakkō atochi ni 751 no haka'; senjūmin no kodomora no ikotsu ka)
For this title, you may need to combine what we just learned with some of your previous knowledge.
The English translation would be: 751 graves on a former school site in Canada: Are they the remains of Indigenous children?
You may have noticed that this article is from 2021, which was at the height (at least in the news) of the discovery of unmarked graves at former “residential schools”.
Let’s take a look at one last article, this time from Asahi:
先住民学校、負の歴史向き合って カナダ「真実と和解の日」（せんじゅうみんがっこう、ふのれきしむきあって カナダ「しんじつとわかいのひ」/Senjūmin, fu no rekishi mukiatte; Kanada “Shinjitsu to wakai no hi”)
For anyone who doesn’t know, 負（ふ/fu) means negative.
I think the title for this article in English could be translated in two ways. One is: Indigenous Schools Confronting Negative History: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Day
The second is: Confronting Negative History and Indigenous Schools: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Day
Read a Paragraph
Let’s stay on this last article and read the first paragraph. Let’s read through it first before figuring out what it means.
カナダで９月３０日、先住民の子どもたちが強制的に寄宿学校で教育を受けさせられたことを振り返るための「真実と和解の日」があった。今年に入って、複数の寄宿学校跡地で多数の子どもの遺体が見つかったことから国の祝日となり、各地で追悼行事が行われた。（カナダで9がつ３０にち、せんじゅうみんのこどもたちがきょうせいてきにきしゅくがっこうできょういくをうけさせられたことをふりかえるための「しんじつとわかいのひ」があった。ことしにはいって、ふくしゅうのきしゅくがっこうあとちでたすうのこどものいたいがいみつかったことからくにのしゅくじつとなり、かくちでついとうぎょうじがおこなわれた。/Kanada de 9 gatsu 30 nichi, senjūmin no kodomotachi ga kyōseiteki ni kishuku gakkō de kyōiku wo ukesaserareta koto wo furikaeru tame no “Shinjitsu to wakai no hi” ga atta. Kotoshi ni haitte, fukusū no kishuku gakkō atochi de tasū no kodomo no itai ga mitsukatta koto kara kuni no shukujitu no nari, kakuchi de tsuitōgyōji ga okonawareta).
You may have recognized some of the vocabulary from earlier in the video, but there may be other words that are unfamiliar to you.
Are either of these words new for you?
強制的（きょうせいてき/kyōseiteki) - fcrced, compulsory
各地（かくち/kakuchi) - each place
Once we put everything together, this paragraph can be translated as:
“September 30th was Truth and Reconciliation Day in Canada, a day to reflect on the forced education of Indigenous children in residential schools. Earlier this year, the bodies of many children were found at the former sites of multiple residential schools, resulting in this day becoming a national holiday. Commemorative events were held across the country.”
These are just 3 news articles and other media about the Indigenous peoples of Canada, unmarked graves, and Truth and Reconciliation Day that you can read to learn more. Some are more blog-like, and geared toward Japanese immigrants or students in Canada, and others are more typical news articles.
Learn More
The amount of information on Indigenous peoples and the history of this place we call Canada isn’t as extensive or numerous as I personally think it should be, but it’s growing; slowly but surely.
One source you may find helpful to keep an eye on is TORJA, which is a Toronto based news source all in Japanese. There’s one based in Vancouver too, called VANJA.
Thank you for joining me in this first instalment of "Let's talk about it in Japanese 「日本語でも話そう」” where we look at a wider range of topics, including politics and social justice, not covered in classrooms or textbooks in order to empower Japanese language learners - like yourself - so that you can widen your scope of conversation, learning, and understanding. I hope you found today’s topic meaningful.
Please feel free to share your thoughts with me in the comments below. And subscribe for more videos to help you fill in the gaps of your Japanese language learning!
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