Parents advocate for Indigenous languages
Letter sent to TDSB requests more programming during daytime classes, after school
Danis Goulet called it “almost tragic” that her Grade 3 and Grade 6 children take French immersion, given the fact that if they could have taken Cree immersion, Goulet would have done it without hesitation.
Goulet, a Cree mother of two, and other parents are calling on the Toronto District School Board to expand Indigenous language programming beyond the current offerings.
Goulet’s father spoke Cree as a first language “and within the span of one generation, between him and me,” it was lost.
“And to me, this is hugely important and a gap I’ve been grappling with my whole life,” Goulet said. “To me, the offering of an Indigenous language would be incredible. It would mean a lot to me and my family to be able to have our children learn Cree.”
TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said in a statement that the Aboriginal Education Centre recognizes the need for more Indigenous language instructors and different Indigenous languages.
Seven schools have provided Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) classes for more than adecade, and Indigenous language teachers are hired through the Aboriginal Education Centre.
Of the 53 languages taught to about 30,000 students during the International Languages Elementary Program last year, none were Indigenous.
Gisele Gordon asked friends and family to sign a letter asking the TDSB to enhance language programming.
“We just want to push all levels of government — the federal government, Ontario and the Toronto District School Board — on how they can help support the Aboriginal Education Centre to bring more language teachers into our schools, for the classes that are integrated into the school day and also the after-school programs,” Gordon told the Star.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s call to action highlights the need to preserve and strengthen Indigenous language and culture.
“It was the institutions of government that took these languages away, so it should be the institutions ... that help bring them back,” Gordon said. “And right now, we are at a critical time to keep these languages alive.”
According to 2016 census data, the mother tongue of over 213,000 people was an Indigenous language. In Ontario, it was more than 25,000.
Gordon’s husband and children are Cree but don’t speak the language; she is non-Indigenous.
“My mother-in-law is a fluent Cree speaker,” she said. “My husband, like most of his generation, is not. This is a direct result of residential schools.”
Gordon’s mother-in-law was forced to speak English and told that her children should speak English, not Cree.
Keren Rice, director of the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Toronto and a professor of linguistics, said research about reserve and small community populations points to wellness benefits and educational success as a result of language programming.
“Whatever ability to speak the language they have, independent of that, the fact that they’ve done these language classes has really made a difference in terms of looking at overall performance,” Rice said.