Support our languages, Kitikmeot Inuit demand (fwd)

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Support our languages, Kitikmeot Inuit demand

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | 9:48 AM CT
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/10/23/kia-lang.html

Inuit in the Kitikmeot region in western Nunavut say they want the
territory's proposed education act to recognize their languages.

Meeting in Cambridge Bay last week, members of the Kitikmeot Inuit
Association passed a resolution calling for the act to include the dialects
of Inuinnaqtun and Nattilikmiun as languages to be taught in all Nunavut
schools.

Indigenous residents of the region of about 4,800 people speak Inuinnaqtun
and Nattilikmiun. While both are dialects of Inuktitut, members say they
are both different from Inuktitut itself.

"I'm hoping that the government of Nunavut or even the federal government
recognize these [languages] to make sure they are properly taught,"
association president Donald Havioyak told CBC News on Monday.

"Hopefully they'll make changes, but if they don't, we will continue to push
it in the future."

Havioyak said having the Kitikmeot-area dialects taught in schools would
help people in the Kitikmeot region move to other Nunavut communities.

Lawmakers in Nunavut are expected to introduce the proposed education act in
the new session of the legislative assembly, which begins Tuesday in Iqaluit
and runs until Nov. 9.

During that session, MLAs will also discuss two proposed language bills
aimed at preserving the Inuit languages and boosting their presence in the
territory.