Languages vital to First Nations’ culture, future

Indigenous languages are at risk throughout North and South America. What once were thriving languages are dying off, in spite of efforts to save them.

Canada has about 60 Aboriginal languages and all but three are considered at risk of disappearing.

The reasons for this “silent genocide” are many, but the process has become accelerated in the past 50 years.

Boarding schools have long been considered the culprit, but while the use of their language was forbidden the students would rebel and speak to one another in secrecy. It was one of the ways our people pushed back against the strict control over hearts and minds that existed in boarding schools.

Also, the children would return to their homes over the summer and their Aboriginal language was the language spoken in the home. In this manner they would receive a refresher course in the language and culture over the summer. Unknown to them, the children would receive a valuable education over the summer in spite of the attempted eradication of their culture at the boarding school.

When the students reached 16, they were no longer obligated to attend school and the vast majority stayed home and didn’t return. If anything, this act alone should have told the authorities that their education system was neither valued nor respected by First Nations students and parents.

The students would quickly return to their home language and culture.

More recently, the attitude of parents was the misinformed idea that speaking an Aboriginal language would hold their children back and be a detriment to their education. In fact, our educators were establishing bilingual education where the students would be taught in both languages. They found that the students learned faster and became proficient in both languages.

The deadliest weapon to attack our languages wasn’t a weapon at all. It was treated as a friend. We welcomed it into our homes and we gave it a position of prominence. The television, the one-eyed babysitter, was brought into Indigenous homes and English or French gradually became the language of the home.

In Saskatchewan, most reserves received electrification about 50 years ago and the television was not far behind. Some children were raised by grandparents or spent time away from the influence of the television such as a trapline; they continued to grow with their language and today are a valuable source of language retention.

In most cases, the mother plays an important role in language retention because she maintains the home and speaks to the children more than the father, who might be away at work and so on. A few years ago I was in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake. I spoke to an elder who was teaching a woman her language. He told me that he was concentrating on the women because they were the ones who would pass the language along to the children.

The urgency of language retention is not lost on our educators. Today our First Nations control their education system, and the culture and language are an important part of the curriculum. Schools located on reserves have language teachers who teach classes at all levels.

A while back I was in New Zealand and our Maori guide showed us what they call a “language nest.” It was a daycare project where the children were immersed in the Maori language. They began as small children and as they got older they learned more complicated words and phrases. The study was more than language because they also learned about their culture and traditions.

I also watched Maori TV; every evening they had a news broadcast in the Maori language that was both national and international in scope.

In Canada we are fortunate to have APTN, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, which broadcasts in Aboriginal languages, but unlike New Zealand, which has one language, we have about 60 Aboriginal languages in Canada, which makes language preservation more problematic.

This is the challenge for our people. Our culture, history and traditions are wrapped up in our languages. In order to continue our cultural renaissance, we have to strengthen and rebuild the importance of our Aboriginal languages. Our future depends on it.