Language policy in Hawaii and in Canada

Tue Apr 1 14:30:40 UTC 2008

I would only like to comment on one exhibit - the status of the Hawaiian
language - which had special meaning to me.

Growing up in Canada and being somewhat of a "Francophile", I have closely
watched with fascination the struggle to maintain the French language in
Quebec and Canada in general. The language issue could conceivably have been
ended at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. It took place in Old Quebec in
1759 when the British, led by General James Wolfe, defeated the French, led
by General Louis-Joseph Montcalm. This in essence was the battle for the
future of Canada. The results of this battle would decide that henceforth,
the French colony of Quebec would be under British rule and subject to
British law.

This stance was softened when under the Quebec Act of 1774, the use of the
French language was reinforced with the restoration of the French Civil Code
for matters not relating to criminal law or public policy. The act also
guaranteed the practice of the Catholic faith. At the time Quebec was almost
100% Catholic and predominately French speaking. These two measures ensured
that the French language would have a nt role in Quebec. In 1867 the
expanded Canada would become an independent country that despite its
independence to this day still regards the monarch of Great Britain - Queen
Elizabeth II - as the Queen of Canada. Over time, a major erosion in the use
of the French language occurred which prompted calls for independence by
Quebec nationalists and for stronger laws to protect the French language
from more moderate forces.As a result of these forces, language rights were
codified in two landmark pieces of legislation. On the federal level, the
Official Languages Act was passed in 1969 giving the French and English
language equal status for both languages in all services provided by the
federal government including the courts.

"La Loi 101" enacted by the Quebec Legislative Assembly in 1971 made French
the official working language of Quebec. It included such things as English
lettering on public signs being only one-third the size of the French
lettering and required children to go to French-speaking schools unless at
least one parent had been educated in the English language in Quebec. As a
result, use of the French language prospered. Evidence of that would be
apparent, for example, in Ottawa where I spent 35 years of my life. French
is a language that can be heard frequently in the streets of Ottawa as about
one third of the population is French speaking. Across the Ottawa River, in
the city of Gatineau, which is located in the Province of Quebec, French is
almost the exclusive language. The French language very much tes Quebec to
this day and is relevant in the rest of Canada as well. In Prince George,
British Columbia which is a long way from Quebec, I am an occasional teacher
in the French Immersion Program which starts in Grade 1 and continues to
Grade 12. The program seems to be achieving its goals as the students are
quite conversant in the French language even though in the rest of the city,
the language is barely heard. *
<http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/lobo/excursions/1198390680/20--.jpg/tpod.html>
*

For those readers living outside of Canada, French Immersion means that all
courses are offered in the French language. Because of this, I am presently
brushing up on my high school math in French as this is giving me the
greatest challenge. The question may also arise, why take French Immersion
in a part of Canada where no French is spoken. The answer lies in the job
market. If aspiration includes to someday working for the federal government
anywhere in Canada, it is a great asset to be bilingual. Parents are
certainly aware of this and a fair number would like to steer their children
in that direction. French Immersion is also a form of streaming as generally
only the better students are up to the academic rigors of an immersion
program. The French language has not only survived but prospered in Canada
due to vigilance and determination to keep a culture and a language alive in
difficult circumstances. Nowhere else in the world have I seen the
linguistic accommodation that exists in Canada between French and English.

My comments of course would be laughable to Quebec nationalists who see
themselves "victimized" at every turn by "les anglais". Theirs is an
all-or-nothing approach of "independence at all cost". While this approach
came within a whisker (less than a 1% margin) of winning a referendum in
1995, since then the threat of separatism in Quebec has fortunately greatly
receded. Upon further reflection, I conclude that I may be missing the main
point as my linguistic and cultural comments do not take into account the
state of First Nations or Innu languages, meaning the languages of the
indigenous people of Canada. Perhaps here lies the real parallel with Hawaii
and not the example of French in Canada. But even this parallel breaks down
when a closer comparison is made. While the indigenous people of Hawaii
spoke one common language, the indigenous people of Canada speak or spoke
hundreds of languages resulting in an "apples" and "oranges" comparison. As
a result of writing this blog I am also less disturbed by the treatment
received by the indigenous people of Hawaii, linguistic or otherwise. This
change of heart was brought about by the realization that the treatment
meted out to indigenous people here in Canada may have been worse than that
reserved for indigenous people of Hawaii.

The most infamous experiment gone wrong was the saga of Canada´s 69 church
run, government funded, well-meaning "residential schools" which were
implemented around the turn of the 20th century. Indigenous children were
removed from their parents to these far-away residential schools with the
intent of taking the "indigenous" out of the students and turning them into
clones of Christian society. One of the main vehicles of this process was to
abandon the indigenous languages and culture in favour of the English
language and culture. This was perceived as being the best way to prepare
the students for "white society". This action in and of itself was
questionable enough, but must be viewed somewhat in the perspective of the
times. Many actions taken in the past can be seriously second guessed based
upon today´s standards.

What was unacceptable, even by the standards of that time period, was the
wide spread physical, emotional and ual abuse inflicted upon the indigenous
children by the persons responsible for their education. These persons who
committed the abuse were all members of various religious orders with the
Catholic Church playing the largest role. Obviously the ual abuse was not
committed by everyone involved with the school but nevertheless over the
years a very serious problem has been identified in this area. The last of
the schools was not abolished until 1990. It is this sordid legacy which is
still being sorted out today by court actions and apologies from the highest
places. It would appear that there is no such sordid large scale
mistreatment of the Hawaiian people. Given this background I was very
interested in seeing how the Hawaiian language and culture had fared over
the years.

However, starting with that day in January 1778 when Captain James Cook of
the British Royal Navy landed near what is now the town of Waimea on the
island of Kauai, the fate of the Hawaiian language was sealed to suffer a
long decline and near extinction. Quoting from one of the information panels
at the museum, "An ancient Hawaiian proverb emphasizes that the existence of
a people depends on the life and of its language". By that measure, the
"Hawaiian" has just about gone out of Hawaii. Because of my interest in this
linguistic question, I never failed when given the opportunity, to ask a
standard question of anyone appearing to be native Hawaiian. "Do you speak
Hawaiian?" The answer in every case was in the negative. Furthermore, almost
no one showed any interest or regret with respect to the language issue. I
was disappointed by this response as I had gotten much pleasure over the
years in learning languages and their inherent cultures.

On our last night in Honolulu, we ate at the foremost "Hawaiian food"
restaurant in town. Surely the owner, a Hawaiian by all appearances, would
speak the language. Once again, it was the same negative answer. However,
his children were taking Hawaiian language courses at the school which
nevertheless was a sign of linguistic progress. The only ray of hope is the
fledgling Hawaiian Language Immersion program which has been started in some
public schools. The challenge is finding qualified teachers and adequate
resources.The most shocking aspect of the Hawaiian language was its
abolition as a language of instruction in 1893 by the Republic of Hawaii.
That was the year the sugar barons and other business men conspired to
overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy. This ban on Hawaiian as a language of
instruction in schools lasted an incredible 100 years. This of course
explains the gap in language knowledge evident in generations of Hawaiians.
It was a policy of cultural genocide which was designed to ensure the tion
of the "Caucasian" race and perhaps ensure integration into the English
speaking United States of America. The Hawaiian language in the present day
is making a modest comeback as the immersion language programs would
suggest. It is encouraging but one senses that Don Quixote had a better
chance against the windmills than the possibilities of this program becoming
widespread.

-
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