Federal Task Force calls for funding for aboriginal languages

[Ilse Ackerman]

*Task force calls for funding of Aboriginal language project
* 
Posted: October 04, 2005
by: David Wiwchar / Today correspondent

OTTAWA, Ontario - The Federal Task Force on Aboriginal Cultures and 
Language recently released a 142-page report, calling on the Canadian 
government to immediately begin funding Aboriginal language projects 
before it's too late.

 ''Canada's past assimilative actions, particularly the residential 
school system, cannot be ignored. Canada's failure to protect First 
Nation, Inuit and Metis languages and cultures means it must now provide 
the resources necessary to restore them. All federal departments share 
this responsibility. However, First Nation, Inuit and Metis peoples must 
also take their rightful place as the first and foremost teachers of 
their own languages and cultures,'' read the report.

 ''Forcibly removing language and culture from individual First Nation, 
Inuit and Metis people is tantamount to a breach of Aboriginal and 
treaty rights, as well as a breach of the Crown's fiduciary duty, and 
should therefore be compensable. It is also our view that Canada's 
refusal to compensate individuals who continue to suffer the devastating 
effects of their loss of connection to their communities and their 
languages, cultures and spiritual beliefs fails to uphold the honour of 
the Crown. Further, this refusal has the effect of appearing to relegate 
First Nation, Inuit and Metis languages to the position of subjugated 
languages that can be forcibly removed from the memories of the people 
who spoke them, with impunity.''

 During 16 community consultations held across Canada in 2004, many 
stated that the ability to speak one's own language helps people 
understand who they are in relation to themselves, their families and 
their communities, and to creation itself.

 ''The exact number of languages and dialects is unknown, but around 61 
are spoken today. First Nations speak 51 languages. Inuit speak various 
dialects of Inuktitut and Metis speak Michif, as well as some First 
Nation languages.''

 British Columbia has the greatest language diversity, containing eight 
of the 11 language families. But in that province, First Nation 
generational language transmission is in serious decline.

 Most First Nation languages there are listed as ''endangered'' because 
Interior Salish languages - along with the languages in the Tsimshian 
family, Kwakw'ala, Nuu-chah-nulth, and several of the smaller Dene 
languages in northern British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and 
the Yukon - fell within a range of more than 300, but fewer than 1,000, 
speakers.

 30 percent or 52 First Nations had endangered languages (less than 50 
percent of the adult population were reported speaking the language and 
there were few if any young speakers or, although over 80 percent of the 
older population spoke the language, there were no identified speakers 
under 45 years old).

 Research suggests that intergenerational transmission of British 
Columbia's First Nation languages has virtually ceased, and that almost 
no young children are acquiring the First Nation language in the home. 
Even among the population of childbearing age, especially younger 
parents, very few individuals are fluent.

 American Indian people able to speak a First Nation language well 
enough to conduct a conversation fell from 20 percent in 1996 to 16 
percent in 2001, while those speaking it in the home declined from 13 
percent to 8 percent.

 ''It is important to keep in mind that statistics on language tell only 
a small part of the story.

 ''Most of the world's indigenous languages are in danger of extinction, 
including those in Canada. Regardless of the number of speakers, all 
First Nations, Inuit and Metis languages are equal. There are many 
reasons why every effort should be made to save them. First, they are 
the original languages of Canada, spoken here millennia before French 
and English. They ground First Nation, Inuit and Metis nationhood, are 
recognized in treaties, and are entrenched in section 35 of the Canadian 
Constitution.''

 The task force made 25 recommendations in the report, released July 27. 
They recommend a national language strategy be developed through 
community-based planning by First Nation, Inuit and Metis language 
communities, as well as by their regional and national representative 
organizations, with coordination and technical support to be provided by 
the proposed national language organization.

 Other recommendations included equitable resources for language 
support; that Canada provide funding for First Nation, Inuit and Metis 
languages which is, at a minimum, at the same level as that provided for 
the French and English languages; and that funding of First Nation 
schools by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development be 
provided at the same level and standard as that provided to Ministries 
of Education.

 Those incarcerated in Canadian jails and prisons should also receive 
language-training resources, because what has been missing so far is any 
systematic attempt to provide language training to incarcerated First 
Nation, Inuit and Metis persons to enable them to participate more 
deeply and fully in their own traditions.

 ''That being said, however, Canada cannot speak our languages for us. 
Canada cannot restore them. And Canada cannot promote them among our 
peoples. We must take our rightful positions as the first and most 
appropriate teachers of our languages and cultures. We must begin by 
speaking our own languages to our children in our homes and communities 
and we must do it daily. We cannot delegate this task to our schools or 
leave it for the next generation. To maintain, revitalize and preserve 
our languages, we must use traditional and contemporary methods and 
strategies in the development of new approaches.''

 ''We view this foundational report as a new beginning, the first step 
of what many described as being a 100-year journey to the revitalization 
of our languages and cultures,'' read the report. ''... Restoring their 
languages and cultures would ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Metis 
people remain strong nations for as long as the sun shines, the grass 
grows, and the river flows.''
 

-- 

Ilse Ackerman
Manager, Endangered Language Program
Fairfield Language Technologies, Rosetta Stone
135 West Market St, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 USA

w: 540-432-6166 c: 540-578-3074 f: 540-432-0953

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