U of M takes step to revitalize Indigenous languages

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2019 (2285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This school year, for the first time in the University of Manitoba’s 142-year history, four Indigenous languages will be available for students to learn.

For years, multiple levels of Ojibwe and Cree have been taught in the Department of Native Studies, but — due to demands from students and Indigenous leaders — two more have been added: Michif and Dakota.

“Indigenous languages are the best way for us to understand Indigenous cultures and communities,” Native Studies Department head Cary Miller says. “It’s an exciting time.”

It’s been a long road for my department — our 45th year, the second oldest Native Studies program in the country. We’ve taught Indigenous languages since our beginning, but we still haven’t done one thing we dream to do: produce a fluent speaker.

We’ll take a step towards that this year though.

It’s long been said that languages shape the way people think about, act and interact with the world.

For Indigenous communities, languages are integral to identity, cultural continuity and survival as nations. Language, of course, is not the only expression of a people but is often one of the most important.

Canada’s legislative assaults on Indigenous languages — the worst being the residential school system — has resulted in the loss of use of many Indigenous languages.

While at one time there were over 70 Indigenous languages and hundreds of dialects, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) lists 80 per cent of Indigenous languages in Canada now being “critically endangered.”

Efforts to save them have been underway but fight an uphill battle against will and time.

A December 2018 Statistics Canada study showed that there are around 264,000 Indigenous language speakers in Canada — with most “first-speakers” (who grew up speaking the language) over 50 years old.

That same study showed an eight per cent increase between 1996-2016 in second language speakers.

This means more and more Indigenous Peoples are learning their own languages after English and French.

For those keeping score, this is how Indigenous languages are eradicated.

Some important changes are coming. The federal government’s new Indigenous Languages Act, for example, promises to support Indigenous communities retaining their languages, but how they propose to do this and fund programs is controversial.

The creation of an Indigenous languages commissioner and budgetary decisions left to the interest of federal political parties are a few issues that leave many questions.

There is no magic law that will save Indigenous languages. They will be saved by visionary, local and committed advocates.

This makes the work of universities, schools and community organizations more critical than ever.

There is much work ahead of us.

This is particularly true for Michif, the language spoken traditionally by Métis — which now only has around 1,000 speakers left.

Dakota is not a language spoken by many in Winnipeg but taught regularly at Brandon University (in fact, Brandon instructor Kevin Tacan is driving in weekly to teach for U of M).

Both languages have small but important communities who have helped build Winnipeg. This is their home, too.

Creating courses is only one step though. Building their permanence at the University of Manitoba will require patience to develop, students to enrol and administration to believe saving Indigenous languages is important.

Businesses and government can help by committing to Indigenous languages and using them in their everyday operations.

And, hey, why not make them “official” languages, too — but I digress.

The University of Manitoba is not alone in the struggle to save Indigenous languages. The University of Winnipeg offers courses in Ojibwe and Cree and recently awarded honorary doctorate degrees to their two language instructors, Annie Boulanger (Ojibwe) and Ida Bear (Cree).

Red River College also offers language classes and certifies speakers who wish to learn how to teach the language.

School divisions in Winnipeg are also on board. Seven Oaks School Division and Winnipeg School Division offer bilingual education programs (50 per cent of instruction) for students in as early as kindergarten.

Other school divisions and community organizations such as the Helen Betty Osborne Centre and the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre offer daytime and after-school language programs for families and learners.

The challenge for all of these programs is that, while important for first-timers, none have led to the creation of fluent Indigenous language speakers.

And time is running out to save languages.

Commitment leads to change. For example, this past year the University of Manitoba determined that Indigenous knowledge could be on par with a PhD degree for the first time in the school’s history, giving Ojibwe language teacher Pat Ningewance a tenure-track professor position.

These kinds of important moves are critical in the creation of long-term Indigenous language programs.

Ningewance, who has been holding community-based “culture camps” where only Ojibwe language is spoken, will now begin developing a program in which students can take multiple-level “upper-level” language classes — and even graduate degrees in Indigenous languages.

Now, what’s needed is resources, space and time to develop students and train teachers in Ojibwe.

Then, our department can build a program for Cree. Than Michif. Than Dakota. And so on. There are seven Indigenous languages which call Manitoba home.

Our department’s dream is to develop “language nest” programs such as those found in New Zealand and Australia, where families speak their Indigenous languages at home, not just in school.

In some northern Manitoba communities, Indigenous language use can still be fostered in homes that speak Indigenous languages — but these are few and far between in Winnipeg.

This school year, a big and brave step is being taken by the University of Manitoba in revitalizing Indigenous languages.

Let’s not wait 45 years to take another one.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca