Braille Literacy Canada Endorses the Mi’kmaw Braille Code
September 19, 2022 - Braille Literacy Canada, the governing braille authority of Canada, is pleased to announce the endorsement of the Mi’kmaw Braille Code.
Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority (APSEA) certified braille transcriber, Christine Muise worked in tandem with Dr. Bernie Francis, Membertou Linguist, native speaker of Mi’kmaw, and co-creator of the Francis-Smith print orthography currently used for the Mi’kmaw language to develop the Mi’kmaw Braille Code. This work was completed in consultation with Dr. Robert Englebretson, Carol Begay Green and Justin M.H. Salisbury.
The Mi’kmaw braille code in its current form has the support and approval from both Dr. Bernie Francis and Chief Terry Paul. Chief Terry Paul, OC, the elected chief and CEO Membertou declared, “Creating a braille code that represents our language plays an important role in communication and accessibility to Mi’kmaw cultural education for future generations of Indigenous students.” Membertou is an urban and progressive Mi’kmaw community located on Unama’ki – Cape Breton Island.
The code is meant to ensure that all blind readers of Mi’kmaw have a standardized, consistent braille code available to them and will be made available to transcribers across North America. We commend Christine Muise on her contribution to the development of this braille code.
BLC celebrates this notable achievement and the important work towards the preservation of Indigenous language being accomplished.