Article 6 – The Importance of Indigenous Language

by Darrell Lathlin

Our Aboriginal languages are our identities. They are the most common artifact that make our Indigenous cultures distinct. Our Cree language makes our Cree people different from other peoples. Not speaking our language will result in the death of our culture because our future generations will not be able to relate with their roots, ancestors, past, and traditions. The United Nations Organization (UNO) has declared Aboriginal languages as the agent of the Aboriginal culture.

As the common saying goes, “if we don’t remember the past, we are bound to repeat it.” However, we would never want to have the past abuses to the natives repeated. The Canadian Government’s attempts to assimilate the Aboriginal people with the white should never be repeated because the long lasting legacy of the residential school system still has its effects on the current Aboriginal people. Students in residential schools were forced to give up their mother tongues, which is one of the major reasons majority of Aboriginal people don’t use their mother tongues. Moreover, “Sexual, emotional and physical abuse was pervasive, and it was consistent policy to deny children their languages, their cultures, their families, and even their given names” (Nagy, R., and Sehdev, K., 2012, p. 67).

“On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the House of Commons:
First Nations, Inuit, Metis languages and cultural practices were prohibited in these schools. Tragically, some of these children died while attending residential schools and other never returned home. The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian Residential Schools policy have had a lasting damaging impact on Aboriginal culture, heritage, and language…. We now recognize that it was wrong to separate children from rich and vibrant cultures and traditions that it created a void in many lives and communities, and we apologize for having done this” (Galley, V. 2009, p. 38).

The apology signifies government’s wrongdoing in trying to assimilate the Canadian Aboriginal culture and attempts to destroy it as well. The apology opens an avenue of healing with past students.

The signing of the treaties was an advantage to the government because the treaties were signed with people who did not have full grasp of the English language. Ironically speaking, not knowing the English language was a downfall for the Indigenous people in the past. This downfall has led to some of our people acquiring proficiency in the English language more than our own mother tongue nowadays. I am a living testimony to this situation; I was moved from the reserve to the city at an early age; thus, I lost any level of proficiency in my mother tongue, Cree. That is why I want to reiterate the importance of Native language. It would be right for the Neo-conservatives to say that I have been assimilated into the main stream culture. Fortunately, my attempt to repossess my own language have been successful. Now my own children understand more Cree than I do, which makes me proud; otherwise, it would have left a hole in my cultural heart.

However, I strongly feel that the government does not treat us equally in terms of language and culture: “The official languages Act has ensured the equality of the English and French languages, but remained silent on championing diversity which could be achieved by ensuring the survival of the some fifty-five Indigenous languages in Canada” (Galley, V., p.39). This is the typical policy when it comes to native languages. Native languages have existed in Canada far way longer than English and French, but they do not have equal status with both European languages. Today, there are about 60 Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada. Sadly, the 60 native languages have been relegated to reserves, with none of them having an elevated status like English and French. Could I write this essay in Cree? I wish I could answer the question in the affirmative. I am limited in my Cree vocabulary; it will therefore be impossible for me to perform a task like this in Cree.

Even though the loss of our languages happened in the past, its effect is still felt today among our youth. The English language is prevalent in every aspect of our daily lives such as in social media, television, gaming system, and the internet. Many games on Playstation, Xbox, and other systems also use English and French to communicate with individuals who play them. The story is also the same with the internet, which completely ignores our native languages. We, as Aboriginal people, would not be able to function without the knowledge of English or French. There is therefore the constant demand for us to abandon our Indigenous languages for the prestigious European languages.

The Canadian government introduced the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network on September 1, 1999, giving Aboriginal people a chance to use their own languages. APTN gives natives a voice in local, provincial and national news. Shows such as “APTN Investigates” gives compelling reviews of the injustices that natives have to deal with, whether it is the problem of the government or of their own band leadership. The highlight of APTN is that all the programs use native languages or interpret English to native languages including Inuit. French is used for the natives in the Quebec Region and French-speaking Aboriginals. Programs used in Aboriginal languages are accessible anytime of the day.

APTN is looking to open a sister channel to the native people in U.S. Surprisingly, the Americans do not have an Aboriginal channel. The markets that open Aboriginal channels in the states are bigger than in Canada. One positive effect is that not just Aboriginals watch APTN. People who want to learn the native culture also have an avenue to learn it as well. The educational programs can help both native and non-native learn various aspects of native culture on the television.

The Facebook culture has great effect on native youth as well. As a social media platform, communications on Facebook is mostly in English. People can communicate among themselves from different continents of the world. Facebook remains a veritable communication tool world wide. People who want to speak or chat with Aboriginal people can find them on Facebook. People can also learn about native culture or protests through networking and texting. With a social media platform like Facebook, more people can learn about Aboriginal movements and help the Aboriginal people with their movements or protests. “Searching using specific cultural groups yields additional results: using the keyword ‘Cree’ yields 76,200 videos, again across a broad range of topics and organizations. There is clearly a substantial Indigenous presence on the new medium” (Newhouse, D., p.10). However, social media can also lead to some negative comments and abuse of Aboriginal people.

Besides social media, the film industry also embraces more and more Indigenous contents and languages. In 2015, Leonard DiCaprio won golden globe best actor for the movie, The Revenant. He said to his Indigenous audience, “I want to share this award with all the First Nations peoples represented in this film and all the Indigenous communities around the world…. It is time that we recognize your history and that we protect your Indigenous lands and Corporate interests” (Narine, S. 2016, p.11). The film was an eye-opener that a high-profile actor accepts Aboriginal culture. In the movie, DiCaprio performed as an Aboriginal language speaker. In Dances with Wolves (1990), Kevin Costner speaks a native language. These Indigenous content movies would not be believable with actors speaking only French or English, with no Aboriginal language.

With more Indigenous contents and languages coming into social media and film industry, the future is bright for the revival and revitalization of Aboriginal culture and languages. Many educational institutions on reserves and urban centres are designing Aboriginal culture curriculums. Native language classes are becoming more prevalent on reserves. “The framework for this recommendation has already been established in the United Nations Organization’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Resolution. Article 14 states that Aboriginal languages should be treated as a fundamental right that the government has an obligation to protect” (Prodanovic, K., 2013 n.p). The United Nations has even noted that Aboriginal languages are needed to help our culture continue with the future generations. This puts more pressure on the Canadian government to create appropriate steps to support cultural education programs.

On Opaskwayak reserve where I am currently a resident, a school program of taking school children to trap lines and showing them the Aboriginal way of life forms part of the land-based education curriculum, reflecting the Cree culture. This program is also designed to take the school children fishing, hunting, traditional medicine gathering, and practicing other assorted Aboriginal traditions. These are all to be conducted in Cree language. Hopefully, this program will be providing the children with more education in culture and learning Cree words that may not be spoken at home. Personally, I remember taking the children on a trap-line exploration, and the program went as follows: the children started by saying the Lord’s Prayer in Cree; they skinned a moose; they gave thanks to the moose with tobacco, thanking it for giving its life for the sustenance of the people. This helps to promote the Cree language. All these are done as explained: “For a given language to thrive in a community it must have the social infrastructure to do so; a community of people can only exist where there is a viable environment for them to live and in turn, they must practice their language in solidarity. Ultimately, languages are considered at risk of dying when they are no longer transmitted to younger generations” (Prodanovic, K., 2013 n.p).

More and more publications are coming in a variety of Aboriginal languages, which helps Indigenous people who want to learn their mother tongue and anyone who wants to learn an Aboriginal language as well. UCN has Cree language courses and there are two texts books for Cree language learners: one is a multitude of words and the other one has basic Cree words for learners.
Cree language also depends on oral culture to continue, “Still, Indigenous survivors and intergenerational survivors persevere, trying to pick up the pieces of our linguistic past and reassemble our cultures and identities” (Aboriginals have passed legends orally in Cree for generations; otherwise, these traditions would have been lost due to the moribund situation of most Aboriginal languages.

Statics also show the necessity of reviving Indigenous languages. The following statistics are taken from the Statistics Canada website. The information gathered is from the 2011 consensus. Looking at the highlights from the statistics, I feel an urge to contribute my quarter to the discussion on reviving Aboriginal languages. “Over 60 Aboriginal languages in 2011, the largest Aboriginal language family is the Algonquian family. In 2011 of all people reporting an aboriginal mother tongue in Canada, the highest proportions lived in Quebec (20.9%), Manitoba (17.7%) and Saskatchewan (16.0%). Nearly 213,400 people are reported as speaking an Aboriginal language most often or regularly at home. However, not all of the 213,400 people speak their mother tongues at home; 17.8% of the reported number speak a different language such as English or French.
The main Aboriginal mother tongues that were reported in Manitoba are Cree, Ojibwa, and Oji-Cree languages. In Saskatchewan, the Cree languages and Dene were the most used languages.

People of age 34 and under were reported as speaking an Aboriginal language at home which was not their mother tongue. More specifically, it was more common among school age children (5 to 14), who may have been learning an Aboriginal mother language as a second language at school. (http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/cencsus, 2011).

These numbers reflect the problem of native people as they move to urban centres or out of their reserves. Trying to improve one’s life in the city is okay, but it is detrimental to the survival of the Indigenous languages which the children are expected to speak. Unless one speaks one’s mother tongue constantly at home and finds a school that helps teach the language, otherwise, outside of home and school, the children will find speaking their native tongue more challenging. Children who have non-aboriginal friends have to speak English to catch up with their friends. Expanding educational programs make learning Aboriginal language learning easier for children to learn, irrespective of whether the children are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal.

In 2016, we found that technology, media outlets, and other communications in English can negatively affect our culture. Even residential schools that try to culturally destroy the Aboriginal in Canada and in the U.S. disappeared. Here, we are still fighting on the issue of displaying our cultures, and maintaining our languages. Adapting the technologies for our advantage such as using Indigenous languages is an on-going protest on Facebook. Enhancing relationships on internet is needed to educate non-Aboriginal populations on Aboriginal cultures and misconceptions such as using the ski-doo to trap faster. Adapting to their surroundings has made the Aboriginal people stronger and wiser. NCI radio and APTN opens more channels for people to get a taste of Aboriginal languages on radio and television.

Conclusion
In conclusion, United Nations Organization’s designation of first nation languages as an inherent right, and the apology from the Canadian government for Residential Schools has further helped to champion the cause of Aboriginal languages and cultures. The growing Aboriginal culture programs in education and the growing rate of children learning Aboriginal language is very positive. Aboriginal cultures continue to adapt with technology and media, giving hope to the continual survival of Indigenous languages in the digital world.

References
Brown, J., & Fraelich, C. (2012). Assets for Employment in Aboriginal Community-Based Human Services Agencies. Adult Education Quarterly , 62(3) 287-303.
Fontaine, L. S. (2017). Redress for linguicide: residential schools and assimilation in Canada. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 30(2), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.3828/bjcs.2017.11
Galley, V. (2009). An Aboriginal Languages Act: Reconsidering Equality on the 40Th Anniversary of Canada’s Official Languages Act. Canadian Diversity / Canadian Diversité, 7(3), 35–41
Langlois, S., & Turner, A. (2011, March 1). Aboriginal languages in Canada. Retrieved from www.statcan.gc.ca
Nagy, R., & Sehdev, R. K. (2012). Canadian Journal of Law & Society Truth, Reconciliation and Residential Schools Introduction: Residential Schools and Decolonization. Canadian Journal of Law & Society, 27(1), 67–74.
Narine, S. (2016, February 1). APTN looking south for opportunity. Windspeaker.
Prodanovic, K. (2013, October 16). The Silent Genocide; Aboriginal Language Loss. Retrieved from www.terry.ubc.ca.

About the Author: Tansi, my name is Darrell Lathlin. Currently, I am taking courses in the Bachelor of Arts program, and I will hopefully finish with a Bachelor of Education Degree as well. I am 45 years old and have three beautiful girls, and fostering another three beautiful children. I hope to someday be a teacher and show my future students that I am a caring teacher who will support their learning and growing as a person. This will hopefully be my last dream to accomplish. I like drawing, writing songs, and watching sports. I hope to sing on the NCI talent-singing contest with one of my original songs in hope of making a CD one day. My essay is on the importance of Indigenous language. My children will be proud to be Cree talking people if they read my essay. Ekosi

Instructor’s Remarks: Darrell Lathlin is an adult student in the course Indigenous Women and Literature 1, which is a third-year literature course. As the only male student in this class, he contributes his insight into Indigenous women and culture from a perspective different from his peers. In Spring 2017, he and his daughter took a second-year literature course with me, Contemporary Canadian Literature 2: Poetry and Drama. He was keen on learning and practicing poetry writing. His poems were published in the third issue of Muses from the North. I witness his improvement in academic learning and am proud of his achievements at university – Dr. Ying Kong.