[\/et_pb_fullwidth_header][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_padding=”54px|0px|0|0px|false|false”][et_pb_row make_fullwidth=”on” custom_margin=”-40px||” _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_padding=”27px|0px|26px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”-30px||”]<\/p>\n
The File Hills Qu\u2019Appelle Tribal Council language apps were originally created to help share Indigenous languages. Here, common Cree phrases are displayed. [Photo \u00a9 Raisa Patel]<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_padding=”63px|0px|63px|0px|true|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”27px|0px|7px|0px|false|false” custom_margin=”-40px||” _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n Miyo-k\u012bsik\u0101w p\u0113t\u0101pan \u2014 good morning. The Cree greeting is read aloud by a language learning app developed by the File Hills Qu\u2019Appelle Tribal Council, a community of 11 First Nations in Saskatchewan. The sound recording is accompanied by a photo of a young girl smiling and waving her hand. <\/strong><\/p>\n When another phrase is tapped, a school-aged boy with his finger on his chin in contemplation appears. He\u2019s looking up at a speech bubble that contains Einstein\u2019s relativity equation, E = mc<\/span>2<\/span>. Ninisitoht\u0113n \u2014 I understand.<\/span><\/p>\n The app is replicated in four languages besides Cree: Nakota, Lakota, Dakota and Saulteaux. Instead of swiping through stock photos, the Council chose images of familiar faces from within First Nations communities where possible. <\/span><\/p>\n Although they were designed to help First Nations peoples learn their languages, the apps could be useful to an aging Indigenous population \u2014 a group Statistics Canada predicts will more than double by 2036. That\u2019s why researchers at Morning Star Lodge, an Indigenous community-based research centre in Regina, teamed up with the Tribal Council to see whether regular use of the apps might reduce dementia progression in First Nations adults with the disease. The project was launched in March and was spurred by a recent rise in dementias affecting Indigenous Peoples \u2014 something researchers say communities are experiencing, but can\u2019t explain. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve never seen that rate, the increase,\u201d said Danette Starblanket, the project lead. \u201cIt’s pretty well unheard of, prior to 10 years ago. We need to know why there’s a spike.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to the <\/span>Public Health Agency of Canada<\/span><\/a>, more than 7.1 per cent of Canadian seniors were living with dementia as of 2014. Dementias \u2014 a class of brain diseases that influence the way people think and recall information \u00a0\u2014 include symptoms ranging from memory loss to personality changes. The disease is caused by damage to nerve cells in the brain and can reveal itself in a number of forms, the most well-known of which is Alzheimer\u2019s disease. <\/span><\/p>\n A 2018 <\/span>literature review<\/span><\/a> from the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health reports that dementia rates will jump by 4.2 times for First Nations and 3.3 times for Inuit from 2006 to 2031. Another <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> on the emergence of dementia in First Nations communities also suggests the disease has an earlier age of onset in Indigenous peoples versus the general population. \u00a0Available evidence \u2014 which is limited and primarily focuses on First Nations as opposed to Inuit or M\u00e9tis populations \u2014 suggests that the incidence of dementia in First Nations populations is also rising at a faster rate compared to the general population.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Funded by Toronto\u2019s Centre for Brain Health and Innovation, the Morning Star project follows 10 participants and their caregivers from 11 First Nations in Saskatchewan for 15 months. Participants\u2019 stages of dementia range from early signs of the disease to patients who have been diagnosed for a number of years. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″]