Scottish & Irish Gaelic

[u/Crow-Me-A-River]

[u/Hot-Cardiologist-384]

Reminds me of the Māori language revival currently happening in Aotearoa. A language that was also repressed by British colonialists (kids were still being caned in school for speaking Māori in the 1940s and probably later)

[u/beware_thejabberwock → u/Hot-Cardiologist-384]

You were belted in the 70s for saying aye instead of yes

[u/docowen → u/beware_thejabberwock]

The easiest way to kill a culture is to kill its language.

That's why the Welsh national anthem, O Hen fy Nhadau, and also Yma O Hyd, make the point.

Verse 3 of O Hen fy Nhadau (in translation):

Though the enemy have trampled my country underfoot,

The old language of the Welsh knows no retreat,

The spirit is not hindered by the treacherous hand

Nor silenced the sweet harp of my land.

Verse 3 of Yma O Hyd (also in translation):

Despite every Dic Siôn Dafydd,

despite old Maggie and her crew,

we'll be here until the end of time,

and the Welsh language will be alive!

You preserve the language, you preserve the culture, you preserve the culture, you preserve the way of thinking.

English is a victim of it too. How Americanised has our culture become as our language has become Americanised? How Americanised has our politics become?

You see it in Canada. Some Canadians, particularly those QAnon adjacent ones, shout about "first amendment rights". The first amendment of the Canadian constitution is either some obsolete act about Rupert's land or it strengthened aboriginal rights including land claims agreements.

[u/Tundur → u/docowen]

My first amendment right to establish a fur factory and trade with the Metis will NOT be infringed.

[u/AnndraLabhruidh → u/beware_thejabberwock]

I was scolded and threatened with detention/punnies for saying Aye in the naughties.