Students at a Nova Scotia high school are drawing international attention to a disappearing Indigenous language using one of the Beatles鈥� most recognizable songs.
Music students at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, N.S. recorded a cover of 鈥淏lackbird鈥� sung entirely in Mi鈥檏maq鈥攁 language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.
The rendition, which was sung by Grade 10 student Emma Stevens, has received praise online by both Beatles fans and language advocates, and has garnered more than 100,000 views since being uploaded last week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very, very powerful song, so doing it in Mi鈥檏maq just makes it more powerful,鈥� Stevens told CTV Atlantic. 鈥淥ur language is dying, so we need more people to keep it alive and speak it, because it鈥檚 going away.鈥�
The song, which took two hours to translate, was recorded in celebration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages, a United Nations initiative aimed at raising awareness of endangered Indigenous languages.
Mi鈥檏maq is the native language of the Eskasoni First Nation, and holds an important place within the community.
Katani Julian, who helped translate the song, hopes the song will inspire younger generations to learn words or phrases from the language.
鈥淲hen the song comes out, and even the young people鈥攖he youth and the children in the community鈥攚hen they hear it, they play it over and over again and pretty soon they start being able to sing it, even if they鈥檙e not able to converse in the Mi鈥檏maq language,鈥� said Julian.
The song has struck a chord with many in the community, especially the elders who have worked to keep Mi鈥檏maq alive.
鈥淲hen I saw the final project, the video, I was absolutely stunned,鈥� said Julian.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just beautiful. I showed it to my dad and I had tears and I didn鈥檛 want him to notice me. When I looked I said 鈥榙ad鈥� and he said 鈥榶eah鈥� and he was wiping away a tear there too.鈥�
Stevens hopes the cover will eventually make its way into the hands of Paul McCartney.
