Personal and Academic Motivation for Indigenous Language Learning

• Speaker has indigenous heritage, interested in learning Anishinaabemowin (heritage language)
• Language as window to see world, connect with family/ancestors/community/culture
• Pass knowledge to future generations
• As linguist: studies phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax
• Research how humans store/use language in brains for communication

Anishinaabemowin Language Structure and Features

• Polysynthetic language (like most indigenous languages)
• Very long words composed of morphemes (tiny pieces)
• Examples:
  • "Nuisance" = "I eat" (one word)
  • "We sin" = "I eat well" (one word)
  • "No no way we sin" = "I eat a good lunch" (one word in Anishinaabemowin = 5 words in English)

Color Categorization Across Languages

• Color perception quiz demonstration with slides
• English speakers: saw 2 green slides, 2 blue slides
• Russian speakers would see: different shades of green, goluboy (light blue), cine (dark blue) as different colors
• Anishinaabemowin speakers: o jawasqua/oshawa means either green or blue
• Not that speakers don't see colors - categorization/understanding differs
• Universal patterns in human color categorization reveal brain function

Animate/Inanimate Grammatical Marking

• All words marked as animate or inanimate (similar to masculine/feminine in French/Spanish)
• Expected animate: people, animals, growing plants (things with pulse)
• Unexpected animate: rocks
• Reveals grammar structure and worldview of speakers

Indigenous Language Endangerment Crisis

• Indigenous languages contain:
  • Cultural knowledge, history
  • Ways to relate to one another and environment
  • Developed on land since time immemorial
  • Priceless environmental knowledge for land relationship
• Current status: vast majority of North American indigenous languages considered endangered
• Those not endangered are vulnerable
• Endangerment by design through laws, policies, government

Residential School System and Cultural Genocide

• Duncan Campbell Scott: architect of residential school system
• 1920 mandatory residential school attendance bill
• Quote: "I want to get rid of the indian problem. Our objective is to continue until there is not a single indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no indian question and no indian department. That is the whole object of this bill"
• 1907 P.H. Bryce report findings:
  • 25% of children died from tuberculosis in some schools
  • Up to 75% of children died in other schools
  • Epidemics created by school conditions
  • Bryce defunded by federal government, forced into retirement 1921
  • Published findings widely 1922
• Indigenous children taken from homes/communities, forced into church-run residential schools
• Suffered emotional, physical, sexual abuse in many cases
• Cultural abuse in all cases (designed to eliminate indigenous language/culture)
• Last residential school closed 1996
• 150,000+ children attended residential schools at 139 institutions across country

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• 2007: Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement
• Largest class action lawsuit in Canadian history
• $60 million set aside for Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC)
• TRC provided: survivor stories, community/family impact, research on full effects
• TRC finding: residential schools constituted cultural genocide
  • Physical genocide: mass killing of targeted group members
  • Biological genocide: destruction of group's reproductive capacity
  • Cultural genocide: destruction of structures/practices allowing group to continue
• David Bouchard observation: building cemetery next to building because people going in will die
• TRC produced 94 Calls to Action for reconciliation path forward

TRC Calls to Action Related to Language/Culture

• Ensure adequate funded education including language/culture
• Acknowledge indigenous rights including language rights
• Create Aboriginal Languages Act with funding for acknowledging/preserving indigenous languages
• Create Aboriginal Languages Commissioner position
• Develop post-secondary language programs
• Reclaim colonization-changed place names

UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

• 2007: UN adopted Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• States indigenous people have right to establish/control own education systems
• Education in own languages, culturally appropriate teaching/learning methods
• 2007: 4 countries voted against (US, New Zealand, Australia, Canada)
• Canada adopted 2010, government promised implementation 2015

Current Language Status in Canada

• 60 currently spoken indigenous languages in Canada
• All but 6 considered endangered by UN
• 6 not endangered: Cree, Anishinaabemowin, Stoney, Mi'kmaq, Dene, Inuktitut
• Mi'kmaq marked with "r" (revitalization) on UNESCO Atlas of World's Languages in Danger
• Mi'kmaq revitalization through self-government agreement, culture/language-based education
• Now Mi'kmaq children with Mi'kmaq as first language

Success Stories and Examples

• Minidumina Singh Anishinaabe Kinomagemig (immersion school, Manitoulin Island)
• Students arrived junior kindergarten speaking little/no Anishinaabemowin
• Grade 3-4 students now testing intermediate/fluent levels
• High self-esteem, proud to be Anishinaabe people
• Kingston Indigenous Language Nest (KILN):
  • Started 6 years ago around elder's kitchen table
  • Weekend multi-generational learning experiences
  • Traditional games, songs, foods, activities
  • Beginner and intermediate classes
  • Partnerships with school boards/libraries
  • Strong, vibrant community development

Moving Forward: Policy Needs

• Need active policy with attached funding
• Indigenous language meaningfully incorporated into education on/off reserve
• On-reserve education funded at significantly lower levels than off-reserve
• Off-reserve indigenous language education often neglected
• Assumption indigenous people not present in provincial schools
• Reality: ~70% of indigenous people in Canada live off-reserve
• Equal right to access language/culture for all indigenous children

Moving Forward: Support Requirements

• Beyond financial support
• Physical space for activities/classes
• Interaction with non-indigenous populations
• People wanting to learn languages
• People discussing language importance
• Education for mutual understanding

Moving Forward: Education Access

• Immersion education primarily (most effective transmission method)
• Education in provincial schools
• Education for non-indigenous population
• Better mutual understanding for working together

Reconciliation Framework

• Quote from settler ally student gift reminds of collaborative potential
• Reconciliation without survivance/continuation of indigenous languages/cultures = assimilation
• Not acceptable outcome
• Use TRC Calls to Action and UN Declaration as guides
• Mutual understanding that linguistic/cultural heritage worth saving
• Step forward together to ensure indigenous languages passed beyond 2050
• Beyond next generation into next seven generations