FITNESS AND MOVEMENT IN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES
Two years ago, we dreamt up an idea. What if we could find a way to incorporate movement, fitness, and language revitalization? Right away, we created a list of critical wellness vocabulary -- words like squat, sobriety, run, and stretch. Then, we thought of all of our friends and colleageus who speak and teach Indigenous languages from communities all around Turtle Island. We began working with them to gather a cache of translations of these words. In the near future, we hope that all nations will have access to teaching tools and vocabulary lists of wellness and fitness words in indigenous languages.
Wellness and indigenous language revitalization are two of the most critical and practical methods of collective healing and strength-building in the indigenous world today. With this in mind, we hope to continue this project in many iterations for many years to come. Soon, we will roll out an entire section of our website dedicated to this topic.
For now, we present to you the first in a series of content that WELL FOR CULTURE will produce regarding FITNESS IN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES. This video was done in collaboration with the AMERICAN INDIAN CANCER FOUNDATION.
Through this video, the SEVEN BASIC MOVEMENTS IN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES, we are proud to show you how to INDIGENIZE MOVEMENT.
The 7 BASIC MOVEMENTS
“The evolution of our Indigenous languages is dependent upon our collective commitment to the creation and translation of action words that we use in our modern daily lives. This includes fitness terminology.”
CALL TO ACTION:
Remember that this video is only a sample of what can be done regarding fitness, health, wellness, and languages. In order to showcase regional diversity, we chose four representative languages to use here: Kanien'kéha, Lakhotiyapi, Anishinaabemowin, and O’odhamaj. But there are thousands of indigenous languages, and the project should not stop now. We encourage anyone and everyone in the wellness and language worlds to partner up and create fitness videos in YOUR language! It’s so easy and fun!
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: Use this video as a template or base idea, but feel free to add your own creative twist. Upload your videos to social media and represent your nation and language.
Use hashtags #wellforculture #fitnessindigenouslanguages
MOVEMENTS TO TRANSLATE
Push
Pull
Lunge
Squat
Hip Hinge
Rotate/Twist
Gait (Walk/Run/Sprint)
OTHER ACTIVITIES TO TRANSLATE
Breath
Stretch
Jump
Strength (physical)
Agility
Good health