Métis artist creates ‘wash your hands’ posters in 21 Indigenous languages – CBC
UN contest will now feature public health messages for Indigenous communities
Jul 20, 2020
When Colleen Gray saw that the United Nations had put out a call for artists to join the fight against COVID-19, her first thought was how to get the message out to Canada’s Indigenous communities.
The Métis artist decided to take two of her pieces and, using translations she found on an Indigenous Services Canada website, add the recommendation to “wash your hands” in 21 Indigenous languages.
But when she submitted them to the agency running the global contest, Talenthouse, hers were not included in the final cut.
When she followed up with an email highlighting the importance of including North American Indigenous languages, she received a reply describing a variety of language choices available on the site, including Turkish, Nigerian Pidgin and Hindi — but no Indigenous languages from North America.
Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/21-languages-covid-art-1.5645150
