Ota nda yanaan - We Are Here (Web Site)

Ota nda yanaan - We Are Here is an interactive website intersecting storytelling, place, history and language in the context of Camperville, Manitoba, a 600 strong Métis community on the shores of Lake Winnipegosis. Elder Rita Flamand has lived here most of her life and is our guide for this prototype phase of the project. She is funny, passionate and endearing. She has an intimate knowledge of the landscape and history of the place. She is a teacher and fluent Michif speaker, and has developed a writing system for this now endangered language. 

The project aims to honour the contribution and resilience of Métis people and validate and valorize the Michif language, once referred to as a "bastard" language. Michif is a unique tongue that emerged from a particular social, political and cultural context and continues to reflect the lived experience and aspirations of a people. 

Incorporating video, sound, photography and interactive maps and language sequences, this site also involves the validation and celebration of the history and presence of a community that was "off the map" in both a literal and figurative sense.