Innu language app another tool in maintaining Indigenous langauge
A very important part of any culture is language. For many First Nations in Canada maintaining their languages has been difficult, and the Innu are no exception.
A new tool recently released, an Innu-aimun conversation app, is part of an effort by the Innu groups of Labrador and Quebec, in conjunction with researchers from Memorial University and Carleton University, to help keep the language alive.
Kanani Davis, CEO of Mamu Tshishkutamashutauinnu Education, told Saltwire they are seeing an increase over time of young Innu coming to school in Sheshatshiu and Natuashish speaking English, with less of a grasp of Innu-aimun.
“It’s strong among certain age groups, the young adults, but the children, we’re seeing a decline,” she said. “It’s different now, everywhere it’s TV in English, music in English, we’re surrounded by it.”
Davis said the app, which has a collection of common phrases and words in multiple Innu dialects, as well as an audio pronunciation, will now be incorporated into the language program at the two Innu schools in Labrador and can also be helpful for those outside of the communities.
“Innu living in other places can use it to help them remember and learn,” she said.
“It’s something teacher can use as a resource teaching Innuaimun but also kids who have been adopted away from home and grow up outside Innu communities. They’ve lost their language and it’s good to have this for them.”
Davis said a lot of people learning the language ask about phrases and pronunciation, so the app seemed like a good fit.
Marguerite Mackenzie, a retired linguistics professor with Memorial, worked on the app with Marie-odile Junker, a linguist at Carleton. Mackenzie has been working with the Innu for decades and said this app is another part in helping revitalize the language.
Mackenzie was part of creating the Innu dictionary and an Algonquian linguistic atlas (https://www.atlas-ling.ca/) that was created initially to help non-indigenous people to learn the languages. Early on, she said, they noticed it was becoming more popular among children of speakers.
“It was made for nonspeakers and non-indigenous people, but the Indigenous people have now incorporated it into their language revitalization practices,” she said. “In Labrador, and among the Innu in Quebec, we are now seeing children are coming to school speaking English or French more and more. So, this is a slippery slope to a language shift from Innu to English or French.”
The app is another version of that atlas, she said, and so far, they’re released apps for Innu-aimun and Cree.
While Sheshatshiu and Natuashish do still have some of the strongest language retention of First Nations across Canada, Mackenzie said experience has shown that once the language starts to go, it goes fast.
“Then you have young parents speaking English to their kids and it doesn’t get passed on,” she said. “You have a situation now where the young people have their grandparents speaking to them in Innu and responding in English.”
In addition to the app, there are a variety of other resources online for people to learn Innu-aimun, Mackenzie said, including dictionaries, games, and stories.
To find the app on itunes or the Google Play store search for Innu Conversations.