tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/indigenous-languages-3857/articlesIndigenous languages – The Conversation2024-03-06T20:42:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246172024-03-06T20:42:39Z2024-03-06T20:42:39ZCanada should provide Indigenous languages with constitutional protection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580006/original/file-20240305-22-2727ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C65%2C4239%2C2826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A book written in Inuktitut. A lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government's efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages largely ineffective.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Funding for the Canadian government’s legislation supporting Indigenous languages is set to expire in 2024, and so far, there has been no serious mention of extending or renewing the funding in Parliament.</p>
<p>In 2019, the federal government passed <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c91.html">Bill C-91, An Act respecting Indigenous languages</a>, which aimed to revitalize and strengthen Indigenous languages in Canada and recognize their historic oppression. The government promised to allocate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/beyond-94/enact-an-aboriginal-language-act">$334 million</a> over a five-year pay period.</p>
<p>As we approach the end of that funding period, doubts and pessimism surrounding the legislation’s efficacy continue to abound. And the lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government’s efforts largely ineffective. </p>
<h2>Legislation faces criticisms</h2>
<p>Bill C-91 was developed by the Department of Canadian Heritage in collaboration with the <a href="https://afn.ca/">Assembly of First Nations</a>, <a href="https://www.itk.ca/">Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)</a> and the <a href="https://mnoc.ca/english/home/">Métis Nation of Canada</a>. </p>
<p>The purpose of the legislation was to affirm Indigenous Peoples’ rights through language preservation, recognized by <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html">section 35 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>. However, it has <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/CHPC/Brief/BR10365995/br-external/RichezEmmanuelle-e.pdf">faced criticism</a> from the beginning. </p>
<p>The ITK labelled the bill <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/itk-reverses-support-c-29-national-reconciliation-council-1.6669809">“colonial,”</a> saying it was largely unreliable with no mechanism to guarantee the allocation of funding by the federal government. </p>
<p>The organization withdrew from collaborating on the legislation, and <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/itk-slams-federal-indigenous-languages-bill/">ITK president Natan Obed said</a>: “the absence of any Inuit-specific content suggests this bill is, yet another legislative initiative developed behind closed doors by a colonial system and then imposed on Inuit.” </p>
<p>Experts have also criticized the legislation for <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/CHPC/Brief/BR10365995/br-external/RichezEmmanuelle-e.pdf">not clearly outlining Indigenous language rights</a>. Despite promoting the revitalization of Indigenous languages through community consultation, Bill C-91 lacks substantive guidelines on how to conduct Indigenous consultations for improving language initiative programs in Canada.</p>
<p>As a consequence, the legislation remains largely performative, and serves more to reconcile settler guilt and complicity for past linguistic oppression of Indigenous people, rather than create any substantive programs for Indigenous language revitalization. </p>
<h2>Inadequate funding</h2>
<p>Garry Anaquod from the <a href="https://www.nccie.ca/story/saskatchewan-indigenous-cultural-center/">Saskatchewan Indigenous Culture Centre</a>, said that even though Indigenous language programs are better funded than in past years, it is still <a href="https://www.mbcradio.com/2021/11/indigenous-languages-need-to-thrive-but-funding-isnt-there-say-language-educators#:%7E:text=The%20federal%20Indigenous%20Languages%20Act,that%20help%20Indigenous%20languages%20thrive.">“never quite enough.”</a> Anaquod argues that in order to revitalize Indigenous languages, funding needs to cover the wages of Indigenous language teachers, the production of Indigenous dictionaries and the extension of Indigenous immersion programs across Canada. </p>
<p>The 2017-2019 Indigenous Languages legislation promised to allocate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/beyond-94/enact-an-aboriginal-language-act">89.9 million dollars</a>. By comparison, Bill C-91’s 334 million dollars certainly seems like a step up. </p>
<p>Even so, funding remains <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/chpc/meeting-147/evidence">scarce and insufficient</a> for wide-scale Indigenous language revitalization. Indigenous language programs across Canada still report experiencing financial undercuts and <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2019/05/09/how-canadas-proposed-indigenous-languages-act-fails-to-deliver/">institutional barriers</a> when it comes to applying for government funding. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.felcanada.org/initiatives-in-canada">Language Initiative Programs</a> are community programs, advocacy groups and non-profit organizations devoted to strengthening Indigenous languages in Canada. Currently, there are 33 prominent programs in Canada listed by the <a href="https://www.felcanada.org/">Foundation of Endangered Languages Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Examples include The <a href="https://bfcc.edu/about-us/">Blackfeet Community College</a> which provides access to educational programs, resources and skills training alongside the promotion and practice of Blackfeet culture and language. Another one is the <a href="https://www.gwichin.ca/">Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute</a> which holds annual language immersion programs to teach the Gwich'in language while providing training for traditional skills such as hunting, fishing, medicine and survival. </p>
<p>Online software such as <a href="https://www.atlas-ling.ca/">Algonquian Linguistic Atlas</a> provides a linguistic atlas of Algonquin languages in Canada. The above mentioned Language Initiative Programs are all prospective candidates for Bill C-91’s funding parameters.</p>
<h2>Overcoming institutional barriers</h2>
<p>In addition to insufficient funding, the legislation provides the government with a greater say than Indigenous communities when it comes to allocating money. Funding must be approved by the Ministry of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism. </p>
<p>Funding provided through Bill C-91 is on an application basis and must be approved by the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/aboriginal-peoples.html">Department of Canadian Heritage</a>. While funding is conjointly reviewed alongside <a href="https://commissionforindigenouslanguages.ca/">The Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages</a> (an independent commission which aims to support Indigenous languages initiatives), the Government of Canada retains a heavy onus on how much and how long funding will sustain these language initiatives. </p>
<p>This can possibly lead to an asymmetrical version of language reconciliation as Indigenous organizations must reconcile themselves to the Crown’s power to obtain funding for the desired language program. The current government funding regime must be scrutinized as practical and bureaucratic constraints limit program output and mute the redistribution of financial instruments to support Indigenous languages and heritage.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaQIlVJnsys?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video on how to pronounce phrases from some Indigenous languages.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Future Indigenous language legislation must remove such barriers when distributing funding for language program initiatives. The government must work with Indigenous community leaders and language organizations on an equal footing to determine how and where money is allocated. </p>
<p>While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has traditionally protected language rights in Canada, it has been drawn to favour official languages English and French. Indigenous languages have been relegated to receiving piecemeal support from small grant programs and excluded from receiving similar constitutional protections.</p>
<p>Since the Charter was implemented in 1982, it has gone through <a href="https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/3032/3060">several revisions</a>. Granting Indigenous languages constitutional protections under <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art25.html">section 25</a> of the Charter may be a starting point. That could provide a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3053790">strong legal foundation</a> to provide meaningful support that can preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Di Rao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Critics have said the government’s efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages are colonial and do not engage with Indigenous Peoples on an equal footing.Di Rao, PhD Student, Political Science, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2224852024-02-21T03:28:12Z2024-02-21T03:28:12ZTaiwan’s Indigenous languages are under threat – what can NZ learn from their successes and failures?<p>There has been a <a href="https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/7463c742-7737-4e91-af20-5ed32da53aad/content">global push to revitalise Indigenous languages</a> since the late 1980s. </p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand has been at the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/history-of-the-maori-language">forefront of revitalisation efforts</a>, earning the admiration of campaigners in other countries, including Taiwan. </p>
<p>Te reo Māori became an official language in 1987. Immersion education is an option for students alongside dedicated Māori news media. Te reo Māori is also increasingly used in mainstream schools, universities and public life. </p>
<p>But the work is not finished. Academics and campaigners have expressed concerns <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/118654781/te-reo-mori-on-a-pathway-towards-extinction">te reo Māori could still go extinct by 2100</a>. And the current government has made moves to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/504025/government-s-move-to-discourage-use-of-te-reo-maori-backwards-disappointing-hipkins-says">discourage the use of te reo Māori</a> in official spheres.</p>
<p>New Zealand can learn from the successes and difficulties of countries like Taiwan. The colonial language (Mandarin Chinese) has had dominance in Taiwan for generations, despite efforts to save threatened Indigenous languages, cultures and identities. </p>
<p>The answer for Taiwan – and New Zealand – may lie in supporting the work of grassroots campaigners instead of relying on the government.</p>
<h2>The colonisation of Taiwan</h2>
<p>Taiwan has 16 Indigenous groups – making up around 2% of the island’s 23.5 million population. Each group has <a href="https://www.cip.gov.tw/en/index.html?cumid=B54B5C7E1E0F994092EDA9D0B7048931">its own unique language and culture</a>. These languages are believed to be the <a href="https://theconversation.com/linguistics-locates-the-beginnings-of-the-austronesian-expansion-with-indigenous-seafaring-people-in-eastern-taiwan-186547">root of the Austronesian language family</a>, encompassing te reo Māori, Hawaiian and several Pacific languages.</p>
<p>The island of Taiwan was governed by mainland China for hundreds of years before being ruled by Japan between the late 19th century and the end of the second world war. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reviving-indigenous-languages-not-as-easy-as-it-seems-68977">Reviving Indigenous languages – not as easy as it seems</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Taiwan became the home of the Kuomintang (KMT) – the Chinese Nationalist government – after the faction lost <a href="https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/topics/chinese-civil-war-1946-1950">China’s civil war in 1949</a>. The KMT implemented martial law and a Chinese-only language policy. It had a significant impact on the survival of Indigenous languages. </p>
<p>This policy disrupted the sharing of these languages within families, leading to their rapid decline. Mandarin Chinese became the dominant language for communication in all social domains. </p>
<p>While Taiwan was presented to the world as the “democratic China”, there was no democratically elected president until 1996. The election of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/24/world/taiwan-s-leader-wins-its-election-and-a-mandate.html">President Lee Teng-hui</a> marked the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304755267_Taiwanization_in_Taiwan's_Politics">start of the “Taiwanisation” movement</a>.</p>
<p>In 2016, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-president-makes-first-formal-apology-taiwans-indigenous-peoples-180959990/">Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen issued a formal apology</a> to the Indigenous peoples on behalf of the government for “four centuries of pain and mistreatment … indigenous peoples’ languages suffered great losses” . </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1747527435099513219"}"></div></p>
<h2>The revitalisation of Taiwan’s languages</h2>
<p>While Indigenous peoples welcomed the gesture, the effectiveness of government measures to revitalise Taiwan’s original tongues remains in question.</p>
<p>Taiwan has introduced a series of policies dedicated to bolstering the revitalisation of Indigenous languages. These efforts started with the <a href="https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawHistory.aspx?pcode=H0020037">Education Act for Indigenous Peoples</a> in 1988 and culminated in the most recent <a href="https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=412">Development of National Languages Act</a> in 2019. </p>
<p>These laws look good on paper and reflect the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/josl.12630">government’s inclusion of Indigenous peoples</a> as a key part of national Taiwanese identity.</p>
<p>However, linguistic analysis of the policies show that ideologically they act to say “we are not China” rather than creating a positive, long-term framework for language revitalisation. The Education Act, for example, introduced “mother-tongue” classes (classes to teach one of the Indigenous languages). </p>
<p>But these classes are plagued by the question: whose mother tongue gets taught? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/linguistics-locates-the-beginnings-of-the-austronesian-expansion-with-indigenous-seafaring-people-in-eastern-taiwan-186547">Linguistics locates the beginnings of the Austronesian expansion – with Indigenous seafaring people in eastern Taiwan</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By the time these classes were introduced, the vast majority of Indigenous families were speaking Mandarin Chinese in the home, the <a href="https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/7463c742-7737-4e91-af20-5ed32da53aad/content">single most important domain for inter-generational transmission of language</a>. </p>
<p>Even with the Indigenous Language Development Act in 2017, Indigenous languages continue to decline. A <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026">2010 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report</a> identified six of Taiwan’s Indigenous languages as “critically endangered” and others as “rapidly in decline”. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-10-3899-0_11">Very few Taiwanese can claim fluency</a> in any of the Indigenous languages, particularly those with a limited number of speakers, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29736885_Chapter_6_Documenting_and_Revitalizing_Kavalan">such as Kavalan</a>.</p>
<p>Research shows the usual problems of not enough teachers and materials are a smokescreen. The real problem is the pervasive use of Mandarin Chinese in all facets of Taiwanese life and the failure of “mother-tongue classes” to provide any sort of fluency.</p>
<h2>Reclaiming indigeneity</h2>
<p>What can Aotearoa New Zealand learn from Taiwan’s experience? </p>
<p>Firstly, it is clear policies might just be words if the government isn’t honest about its intentions. <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/journals/cadaad/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Vol11.2-6-Ting.pdf">One study</a> found that while the policies are technically for language revitalisation, they are really about enhancing Taiwan’s international reputation and avoiding direct opposition to the one-China ideology.</p>
<p>Additionally, it’s not simple for many Taiwanese Indigenous people to “decolonise” because their families and histories are deeply connected to Taiwan’s past. There’s been intermarriage, urbanisation, relocation and even coercion. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-decolonisation-131455">Explainer: what is decolonisation?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But what Indigenous communities can do is “recolonise indigeneity” by <a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/35478/chapter-abstract/303898417?redirectedFrom=fulltext">establishing grassroot language revitalisation efforts</a>, continuing <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/creating-space-and-fulfilling-responsibility-indigenous-language-transmission">Indigenous journalism and television productions</a> and <a href="https://www.tekaharoa.com/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/252/232">creating Indigenous art and creative spaces</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities also need to be part of policy-making and participants in all political and cultural domains.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, Indigenous people and their language contribute to national identities. Taiwanese Indigenous people aren’t Chinese, but the question arises – are they Taiwanese? What matters most to them is <a href="https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/items/e95cea0e-97db-448c-839e-8c94e2bad85e">being recognised as “Indigenous Taiwanese”</a>, standing alongside their non-Indigenous counterparts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222485/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chien Ju Ting does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The indigenous languages of Taiwan are struggling in the face of Chinese dominance. The answer to language revitalisation could lie in grassroots efforts rather than government legislation.Chien Ju Ting, Research Fellow, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234632024-02-19T19:03:45Z2024-02-19T19:03:45Z‘It’s about making our children feel proud’: how schools can learn about local Indigenous language and culture<p>One of the priorities of the <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/resource-centre/indigenous-affairs/commonwealth-closing-gap-2023-annual-report-and-2024-implementation-plan">Closing the Gap reporting</a> is that Indigenous cultures and languages are “strong, supported and flourishing”. It also calls for Indigenous students to “achieve their full learning potential”. </p>
<p>These two priorities are listed in totally different sections of the report but they are very much connected. </p>
<p>Schools can play a big role in Indigenous language revitalisation and <a href="https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rev3.3264">creating</a> a strong sense of identity and belonging for students, supporting their wellbeing and learning. </p>
<p>Our new research shows how this can be done through co-designing curriculum resources with local communities that privilege local knowledge, strengths, stories and languages.</p>
<h2>A repository of language and culture</h2>
<p>In 2020 we began to work with the Elders advisory group connected to a local high school on Wakka Wakka Country, which covers a vast area in Queensland’s Burnett region. But the communities involved in this project were Cherbourg and Murgon. </p>
<p>This was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/co-design-is-the-latest-buzzword-in-indigenous-education-policy-does-it-live-up-to-the-hype-212194">co-designed process</a> from the very beginning. This meant we spoke to Elders and the community to identify what they wanted and then worked with them throughout the process. </p>
<p>Talking to Elders, community and school staff, we learned there was a strong desire to have tangible resources about local history and culture that elevated their voices. These could be used by local childcare services and schools, as well as the broader community.</p>
<p>Indigenous authors <a href="https://www.anitaheiss.com/">Anita Heiss</a> and Uncle <a href="https://youngausperspectives.com.au/boori-monty-pryor/">Boori Monty Pryor</a> delivered a series of workshops with school students and local community members to share their experiences and inspire people to share their stories. We also had local Indigenous researchers working closely with community to support anyone who wanted to contribute a story. </p>
<p>The project culminated in a series of strengths-based stories (emphasising strengths and aspirations) being hosted on the Cherbourg Shire Council <a href="https://cherbourg.qld.gov.au/home/binung-ma-na-du/">website</a> to give the community control of the Binung Ma Na Du (ear, eye, hand and heart) project. </p>
<p>The series includes video stories, written stories, podcasts and bilingual books. For example, the 13 video stories include diverse stories of community members memories of growing up in Cherbourg, overcoming adversity and staying strong in culture. The podcasts continue the theme of storytelling through yarning and understanding the lived experiences of mob from these communities.</p>
<p>All storytellers own the intellectual property of their stories. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/co-design-is-the-latest-buzzword-in-indigenous-education-policy-does-it-live-up-to-the-hype-212194">'Co-design' is the latest buzzword in Indigenous education policy. Does it live up to the hype?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>All students benefit</h2>
<p>We also asked 28 local people (six non-Indigenous school staff and 22 Indigenous school staff and/ or community members) about what they see as the benefits for students when Indigenous knowledges and languages and embedded in school learning. </p>
<p>All participants were clear there are benefits for all students, whether they are Indigenous or non-Indigenous. </p>
<p>For Indigenous students, strengthening identity and building confidence clearly emerged as key strengths. </p>
<p>As Uncle Edward, a Wakka Wakka Elder, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] it’s about making our children feel proud – not just of themselves, but of their people, of their ancestors. And that language that they take is part of those
old people. And […] and I always say to them, ‘You take that language of the old people, you’re gonna start acting like them old people’. And I think our young people start to do that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our respondents noted how non-indigenous students gained greater understanding about cultural differences. Learning language and locally produced stories also helped build relationships between Indigenous and non-indigenous people. </p>
<p>As Lavell, a community member and father, shared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] when I was growing up in high school I did German and it was no use to me as an adult. If they learn Wakka Wakka they learn the language of this place first and they need to learn the language of this place and we need to learn they’re language to come together and live in harmony. We all call Australia home and we need to all respect that.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Lessons from our research</h2>
<p>We also asked the group of community members and school practitioners what good co-design looks like in developing local curriculum resources. </p>
<p>They emphasised how collaboration with community needs to be there right at the start and right through to the end of a project. They also stressed that local knowledge and leadership must be incorporated into the final project (so it can’t just be researchers or policymakers making their own findings). </p>
<p>Sarah, a community member and parent shared that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>communities and schools work better together when we acknowledge and value the knowledge holders such as Elders, parents and community.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/once-students-knew-their-identity-they-excelled-how-to-talk-about-excellence-in-indigenous-education-193394">'Once students knew their identity, they excelled': how to talk about excellence in Indigenous education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How can other schools develop similar resources?</h2>
<p>For schools who want to work with their local communities to enhance local knowledge and language in their curriculum, here are some key tips, based on our research:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>work with Indigenous staff in your school first and foremost to learn about local cultural protocols. If you don’t have any Indigenous staff, your local Elders are the first place to go</p></li>
<li><p>ensure this will be reciprocal. Be clear about what and how you are giving back to the community. For example, you might offering a space for
regular communication between the school and community (not just a one-off interaction)</p></li>
<li><p>work collaboratively with Elders and community to have visual representations of the traditional owners, local language (for example, signage and greetings) and cultures around the school. This is so these become common knowledge among all students and staff and part of the school’s culture</p></li>
<li><p>when working with Indigenous people in remote Indigenous communities, ensure you have met with the local council in the community. These local councils are elected by community and it is respectful and expected that you engage with local councils</p></li>
<li><p>use strengths-based approaches that privilege Indigenous voices in decision-making processes. This means you start by looking at what is already working well and build from that strength, rather than coming in with a deficit mindset (or looking to “fix” something) </p></li>
<li><p>don’t have fixed deadlines: collaborative work in communities take time. You need to build relationships with people first and then be prepared to work flexibly with them. The funding body gave us 12 months initially to complete the project, but it ended up taking about three and a half years from project planning with community to final completion.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marnee Shay receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Government and AIATSIS.
Marnee Shay is a member of QATSIETAC with the Department of Education Queensland.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fred Cobbo receives funding from AIATSIS. Fred Cobbo is an elected Council Member on the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council..</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grace Sarra receives funding from The Australian Research Council and AIATSIS.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret Kettle receives funding from the Queensland Department of Education, AIATSIS, and the Scanlon Foundation.</span></em></p>Researchers worked with Wakka Wakka Elders and local community members to co-design curriculum resources for local schools.Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandFred Cobbo, Adjunct Fellow, The University of QueenslandGrace Sarra, Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of TechnologyMargaret Kettle, Professor, School of Education and the Arts, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102802023-11-14T19:07:02Z2023-11-14T19:07:02ZHow social media is breathing new life into Bhutan’s unwritten local languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549925/original/file-20230925-25-7tl134.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3840%2C5748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dechen, 40, grew up in Thimphu, the capital city of Bhutan. Her native language was Mangdip, also known as Nyenkha, as her parents are originally from central Bhutan. She went to schools in the city, where the curriculum was predominantly taught in Dzongkha, the national language, and English. </p>
<p>In Dechen’s house, everyone spoke Dzongkha. She only spoke her mother tongue when she had guests from her village, who could not understand Dzongkha and during her occasional visits to her village nestled in the mountains. Her mother tongue knowledge was limited.</p>
<p>However, things have now changed.</p>
<p>With 90% of Bhutanese people <a href="http://www.bmf.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Social-Media-Landscape-in-Bhutan.pdf">using social media</a> and social media penetrating all remotes areas in Bhutan, Dechen’s relatives in remote villages are connected on WeChat.</p>
<p>She is in three WeChat groups where people usually communicate through voice messages in their native language. Most WeChat users in rural parts of the country communicate in their oral native language.</p>
<p>“I learn many words. I learnt how to say a lot of things in my own language,” the mother of two now living in Western Australia told me.</p>
<p>Dechen’s story is not isolated. Social media is giving a new lifeline to Bhutan’s native languages, which do not have written script and <a href="https://www.dzongkha.gov.bt/uploads/files/articles/A_Paper_on_Language_Policy_&_Planning_in_Bhutan_by_Pema_Wangdi_c8e8caeee831129a3be15aa6e99732c2.pdf">lack proper documentation</a>. By communicating through voice messages, social media is giving Bhutanese people in both urban and rural areas a new opportunity to use their local language.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-the-kingdom-of-bhutan-teach-us-about-fighting-corruption-109676">What can the kingdom of Bhutan teach us about fighting corruption</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Losing Bhutan’s languages</h2>
<p>Bhutan is a tiny Himalayan nation with a population of under 800,000 people. Internet and television was introduced <a href="https://fid4sa-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/2656/1/Bhutanese_Media.pdf">only in 1999</a> and mobile phones in 2004.</p>
<p>The country has more than 20 local languages, but only Dzongkha has written text and is promoted as the national language. </p>
<p>The country struggles to promote the national language and its usage against English. Today most urban residents, especially the elites, speak English as <a href="https://factsanddetails.com/south-asia/Bhutan/People_Bhutan/entry-7897.html">their primary language</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Bhutanese woman on a phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549923/original/file-20230925-17-1tbu3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">WeChat users can send each other voice messages in their local language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many languages – especially minority languages – are vanishing or becoming endangered as younger generations switch to Dzongkha and English.</p>
<p>The medium of instruction in schools is mostly in English; Dzongkha is taught only as grammar and literature. Students are shamed and often punished for <a href="https://kuenselonline.com/language-policy-decolonising-the-mind/">using their local languages</a>. </p>
<p>The preservation and promotion of local languages, therefore, depends on the speakers. A language faces extinction when its speakers die out or switch to another language. </p>
<p>Linguist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PrIZwrkAAAAJ&hl=en">Pema Wangdi</a> has researched languages in Bhutan, and he told me many people are losing their native language.</p>
<p>“When we lose our language, we lose a piece of our national identity,” he told me.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Masked dance of Dochula Tsechu." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549926/original/file-20230925-20-4nntn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Languages are an important part of cultural identities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/dtwwEJcr8R8">Pema Gyamtsho/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wangdi has identified there are no longer any speakers of Olekha, an indigenous dialect of Rukha in Wangdu Phodrang. </p>
<p>“The loss of a single language is a loss of a piece of our national linguistic heritage and identity,” he said. “When a language is lost, cultural traditions which are tied to that language such as songs, myths and poetry will be lost forever.”</p>
<p>Other Bhutanese languages – including Tshophu language of Doyaps in Samtse, Monpa language of central Bhutan, and Gongdukha of Mongar – are endangered and at the <a href="https://www.dzongkha.gov.bt/uploads/files/articles/A_Paper_on_Language_Policy_&_Planning_in_Bhutan_by_Pema_Wangdi_c8e8caeee831129a3be15aa6e99732c2.pdf">brink of extinction</a>.</p>
<h2>Preservation of local languages</h2>
<p>The future of the minority languages are at threat. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Bhutan">The Constitution of Bhutan</a> mandates the preservation and promotion of local languages, but there are no official efforts to preserve native languages. </p>
<p>But encouraging people to speak their native languages can have far reaching benefits in preserving and promoting Bhutan’s rich culture and tradition. Language embodies identity, ethnicity and cultural values: a thriving local language would help transfer this intangible wealth to the younger generation. </p>
<p>Social media could be an invaluable tool in this preservation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bhutanese man checking his mobile phone next a white stone wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549927/original/file-20230925-17-2bc1di.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social media could be an invaluable tool in the preservation of languages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bhutan could save its languages from becoming extinct with promotion of social media usages and language education could be done on the social media platforms. With both young and old people glued to social media, encouraging more people to use local languages in social media could generate interest among the youth to learn their local languages. </p>
<p>It could also help in documenting the endangered local languages as the older generation can record their voices on WeChat.</p>
<p>Many elder citizens feel strongly about their language and emphasise teaching their mother tongue to the younger generation and their grandchildren. Social media – joining the younger generation on platforms where they feel at home – could be the way forward.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-taking-up-wechat-heres-what-you-need-to-know-88787">Thinking of taking up WeChat? Here's what you need to know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tashi Dema does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media is giving a new lifeline to Bhutan’s native languages, which do not have written script and lack proper documentation.Tashi Dema, PhD Candidate in Language and Politics, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078352023-06-26T20:06:09Z2023-06-26T20:06:09ZA new study of Warlpiri language shows how ‘baby talk’ helps little kids learn to speak<p>Parents and other caregivers typically <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01410-x">modify their speech</a> when they talk to babies and young children. </p>
<p>They use simple sentences and special words, like “nana” for banana. They also speak slowly, use a higher pitch, and exaggerate the ups and downs of the “tune” of their speech. In many languages, caregivers also exaggerate their vowels in a process called “hyperarticulation”.</p>
<p>Researchers refer to all these things as “child or infant-directed speech”. But it is also commonly known as “motherese” or “baby talk”. </p>
<p>Baby talk is used around the world. A 2022 study involving people from 187 countries <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01410-x">showed</a> adults can tell whether speech is intended for children or adults, even when they have no familiarity with the language being used.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/phon-2022-0039">new research</a> looks at how baby talk works in the Australian Indigenous language Warlpiri. </p>
<h2>Why do we use baby talk?</h2>
<p>Simplifying speech and using baby talk modifications makes it easier for children to understand. But it also helps children regulate their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12237">emotions</a> because it sounds more positive. </p>
<p>On top of this, the enhanced “tune” is thought to attract and maintain children’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.09.001">attention to speech</a> and the exaggerated vowels <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1069587">help</a> babies learn the sounds of languages. </p>
<p>However, almost all we know about the shape and purpose of baby talk is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/014272372110664">based on studies</a> of a few European languages, Mandarin and Japanese. </p>
<p>These are languages spoken in predominantly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/466029a">western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic</a> cultures. This excludes thousands of other languages spoken in the world. </p>
<p>For example, where most of the world’s languages have just five to seven vowel sounds, many European languages, including English, have more than double that number, making those languages rather unusual. This raises the question of what modifications speakers use in other types of languages and cultures. </p>
<p>Do they use the same speech modifications to children? And if so, why?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-baby-talk-is-good-for-your-baby-59515">Why ‘baby talk’ is good for your baby</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/phon-2022-0039">research</a>, published this month, investigates the use and purpose of child-directed speech in <a href="https://shop.aiatsis.gov.au/products/warlpiri-encyclopaedic-dictionary">Warlpiri</a>. Warlpiri is spoken in Central Australia by more than 3,000 people and has three vowel sounds: “i”, “a”, and “u”, which correspond loosely to the vowels in “bee”, “bah”, and “boo” in English. </p>
<p>To compare vowels in words spoken to children to words spoken to adults, we videoed four Warlpiri-speaking caregivers in conversation with other familiar adults and four young children (aged between two and three) at their homes. </p>
<p>Our approach deliberately considers the real-life social contexts in which conversations are had. Most previous work has recorded interactions with children in lab settings, and then recorded caregiver-adult interactions separately, typically with an unfamiliar researcher. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-decades-210-warlpiri-speakers-and-11-000-words-how-a-groundbreaking-first-nations-dictionary-was-made-205019">Six decades, 210 Warlpiri speakers and 11,000 words: how a groundbreaking First Nations dictionary was made</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Warlpiri baby talk helps children learn new words</h2>
<p>Our study showed Warlpiri speakers, with just three vowels, also use pitch and vowel modifications in their speech to young children. </p>
<p>It is the first time a finding like this has been established. </p>
<p>This is similar to what English speakers do. But there are also important differences.</p>
<p>Firstly, Warlpiri speakers raise their pitch and change the quality of their vowels so that they sound more like vowels produced by children. This modification likely enhances the children’s attention to speech. As <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00412">other research has shown</a> children prefer to listen to the voices of other children over adults. </p>
<p>Secondly, Warlpiri speakers use vowel modifications for a special teaching purpose. </p>
<p>Walpiri caregivers pronounce nouns with very clear and exaggerated vowels. This is different from how they pronounce vowels in other parts of speech, such as verbs. It is also very different from the way adult Walpiri speakers speak to each other. This helps little children learn new words by ensuring the names for things (often “toys” or “food”) stand out in speech.</p>
<p>Adults are probably not aware of how their vowels sound, or how they are changing them. But they are aware of other aspects of how they change their speech in baby talk style. As Alice Nelson Napurrurla also told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When we are sitting and talking with the little ones, we must always use their words […] like when we say ‘mangarri’ [food], ‘miyi’ [vegetable food], they say ‘nyanya’ [food]. Or when we say ‘jinta-kari’, ‘jinta-kari’ means ‘another one’, but the little ones they use ‘jija-jayi’ [another one] […] we’ve got to use their language.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our study is the first to observe that caregivers use vowel and pitch modifications to achieve two different goals at the same time: to hold child attention and to teach the names for things. </p>
<p>We believe they are able to do this because Warlpiri has only three vowels. By contrast, a new study of Danish, which has more than 20 vowels, revealed Danish caregivers make their speech slower and exaggerate the “tune” but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13950">do not hyperarticulate</a> their vowels. This shows us while baby talk might be a universal phenomenon, the vowel inventory of each language plays an important role in determining what strategies caregivers can use.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lots-of-kids-are-late-talkers-heres-when-to-take-action-206609">Lots of kids are 'late talkers'. Here's when to take action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Our research shows again how baby talk is not an affectation or a silly thing adults do. It helps little children learn language. </p>
<p>Warlpiri caregivers make sophisticated use of baby talk modifications, showing the importance of further research on the shape and function of child-directed speech in diverse languages from across the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207835/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rikke Louise Bundgaard-Nielsen receives funding from ARC Grant #FT190100243. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Nelson receives funding from ARC grant #FT190100243 and the ANU Futures Scheme for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmel OShannessy receives funding from ARC grant #FT190100243 and the ANU Futures Scheme for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessie Bartlett receives funding from ARC grant #FT190100243 and the ANU Futures Scheme for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Napaltjari Davis receives funding from ARC grant #FT190100243 and the ANU Futures Scheme for this research. </span></em></p>Previous studies of baby talk have focussed on European languages, Mandarin and Japanese. For the first time, research looks at an Australian Indigenous language.Rikke Louise Bundgaard-Nielsen, Teaching Associate, The University of MelbourneAlice Nelson, Warlpiri Indigenous Knowledge Holder, Indigenous KnowledgeCarmel O'Shannessy, Associate Professor of linguistics, Australian National UniversityJessie Bartlett, Warlpiri Indigenous Knowledge Holder, Indigenous KnowledgeVanessa Napaltjari Davis, Researcher, Tangentyere Research Hub, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034112023-05-18T20:01:11Z2023-05-18T20:01:11Z‘You can’t speak what you can’t hear’ – how Māori and Pacific sports stars are helping revitalise vulnerable languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526690/original/file-20230517-23-cm4weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5338%2C3545&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black Ferns rugby star Ruby Tui after winning the 2022 women's Rugby World Cup.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’re becoming more used to hearing and seeing te reo Māori in everyday use these days. And Pacific languages are becoming increasingly familiar too – especially during the <a href="https://www.mpp.govt.nz/programmes/pacific-language-weeks/">Pacific language weeks</a> now under way.</p>
<p>But if there’s one forum that has seen a genuine surge in the use of Indigenous languages it’s the world of elite sport. It’s a reflection of the <a href="https://www.journal.mai.ac.nz/10.20507/MAIJournal.2022.11.1.7">increased cultural pride</a> felt by Māori and Pacific athletes – and it’s one more way these vulnerable languages are being kept alive in Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>
<p>Take women’s rugby star Ruby Tui, for example, who broke into her native Samoan during an impromptu interview with a BBC reporter during the Olympic Games in 2021.</p>
<p>After her Black Ferns team won the 2022 women’s Rugby World Cup, Tui led the crowd in a spontaneous rendition of the classic Māori waiata (song) “Tutira Mai Ngā Iwi” – making <a href="https://wwos.nine.com.au/videos/rugby/kiwi-cult-hero-ruby-tui-leads-the-crowd-into-singing-tutira-mai-nga-iwi-at-eden-park/cladptf2g000s0qnt9g2rm3s4">international headlines</a> in the process.</p>
<p>Tui joins other high-profile Māori and Pacific players such as All Blacks <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MccTbKiHwMc">Ardie Savea</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=286406462556223">TJ Perenara and Patrick Tuipulotu</a>, and Black Ferns star <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl-YTFiTX_Y">Stacy Fluhler</a>, who have all used their mother tongues during interviews. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1421045933156884483"}"></div></p>
<h2>Vulnerable languages</h2>
<p>This is more than a feel-good phenomenon. Public figures using their native languages on the big stage support the revitalisation efforts being made by Indigenous people in general.</p>
<p>Despite te reo Māori being an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand, and Samoan being the country’s third-most-spoken language (and <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/it%E2%80%99s-year-samoa-pacific">second-most-spoken language</a> in Auckland), there are still real concerns for their long-term survival. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/research-on-2-400-languages-shows-nearly-half-the-worlds-language-diversity-is-at-risk-204014">Research on 2,400 languages shows nearly half the world's language diversity is at risk</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Te reo Māori is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered">listed as “vulnerable”</a> on the UNESCO endangered languages list, and the number of Samoan speakers among the diaspora populations is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/11771801221084884?casa_token=7kTBVkCI-JUAAAAA:OrAagQziOy0bGEgTzAh-zs18cd5fPkd1S3pBp3vb_vVih4gkwqIterwF4ouMyIdx-O9dlgBOuBZpqA">decreasing</a>. </p>
<p>New Zealand census data show only 3% of the population can speak te reo Māori, and only 2% Samoan. In fact, these numbers may be an overestimation of language capability, with the <a href="https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/10742">true percentages even lower</a>. It is thought that, without deliberate effort, language loss <a href="https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/10742">can occur within three generations</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526694/original/file-20230517-23-3xbdkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tepaea Cook-Savage of Waikato and TJ Perenara of Wellington greet each other with a hongi after a provincial match in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Collective cultural values</h2>
<p>On a positive note, it wasn’t very long ago that Indigenous athletes would only speak English during interviews. So the fact they will now use their star status to <a href="https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/105256">raise awareness</a> of their culture and language is a sign of progress.</p>
<p>In the process, these athletes are making inroads into what has largely been a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41978-022-00122-w">eurocentric sporting arena</a>. In fact, it might be better to think of them not as athletes of Indigenous heritage, but rather as Indigenous people who happen to be athletes.</p>
<p>This is something our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41978-022-00122-w">research supports</a>. Many of these athletes feel a <a href="https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/101592/7%20Tautua-final.pdf?sequence=5">sense of responsibility</a> to their families, villages, tribes and nations – not only to play well, but to use their profile to benefit their people.</p>
<p>This runs counter in some ways to the often individualistic values and financial priorities of commercial sports. Even in the hyper-competitive world of American football (NFL), Pacific players have managed to <a href="https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/105256/10_My%20power%20is%20my%20culture_%20Athletes%20of%20color%20in%20American%20Football.pdf?sequence=3">bring their cultures and languages</a> to the fore.</p>
<p>Since its inception in 2017, the <a href="https://www.polynesianbowl.com/the-game">Polynesian Bowl</a> has celebrated the legacy of Polynesian NFL players, with a Polynesian Hall of Fame, as well as through an ambassador programme and high school all-star game – with a <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/polynesian-bowl-to-be-broadcast-live-in-prime-time-on-nfl-network">primetime live broadcast spot</a> on the NFL network. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-pacific-rugby-league-stars-are-opting-to-play-for-their-homelands-over-australia-or-nz-thats-good-for-the-game-200437">More Pacific rugby league stars are opting to play for their homelands over Australia or NZ – that's good for the game</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘More than just words’</h2>
<p>All these initiatives suggest there is another place where bilingual proficiency could make a difference – the commentary box. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526693/original/file-20230517-15-ysi17a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Black Cap Peter McGlashan (jumping) during his playing days.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have already been examples of this – notably various initiatives by Whakaata Māori (Māori Television), including te reo Māori commentary during the <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1108/S00096/stars-line-up-for-maori-televisions-rugby-world-cup.htm">2011 Rugby World Cup</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj9wRFtI4bH/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=728b899d-6ffc-4ef2-a659-78c38dc585d4">2022 Men’s Softball World Cup</a>. </p>
<p>In 2019, Sky Sport also offered a te reo Māori option for matches broadcast during te wiki o te reo Māori (Māori Language Week). The same year, Sky piloted a Pacific language <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/398768/sport-rugby-commentary-in-pacific-languages-hailed-a-success">commentary team</a> for the Pasifika Challenge rugby event. Samoan, Tongan and Fijian commentaries were made available for all matches. </p>
<p>Television New Zealand and Spark Sport also offered te reo Māori commentary at this year’s <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/31/te-reo-cricket-commentary-available-for-first-time-at-upcoming-t20/">T20 cricket series</a>. Former Black Cap Peter McGlashan (Ngāti Porou) explained his involvement this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My grandma grew up in a time when Māori were prohibited from speaking their language – it was beaten out of us. So this is something very special to me.</p>
<p>Te reo Māori is about so much more than just words. It’s the story of a culture that you can’t articulate accurately in any other language. It’s important we keep using it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Part of the purpose of the commentary initiative, of course, was to attract more Māori to cricket. With that will come more role models and more opportunities to put the culture on the field. As McGlashan also said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s just like the language. You can’t speak what you can’t hear. And you can’t be what you can’t see.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More Indigenous sports stars are speaking their mother tongues in TV interviews and elsewhere. The challenge now is to develop truly bilingual commentary teams to keep the ball alive.Dion Enari, Lecturer in Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of TechnologySierra Keung, Lecturer in Sport and Recreation, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040142023-04-20T00:01:43Z2023-04-20T00:01:43ZResearch on 2,400 languages shows nearly half the world’s language diversity is at risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521819/original/file-20230419-20-sza07m.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3484%2C2258&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, and their grammar can vary a lot. Linguists are interested in these differences because of what they tell us about our history, our cognitive abilities and what it means to be human.</p>
<p>But this great diversity is threatened as more and more languages aren’t taught to children and fall into slumber.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg6175">new paper</a> published in Science Advances, we’ve launched an extensive database of language grammars called <a href="https://grambank.clld.org/">Grambank</a>. With this resource, we can answer many research questions about language and see how much grammatical diversity we may lose if the crisis isn’t stopped.</p>
<p>Our findings are alarming: we’re losing languages, we’re losing language diversity, and unless we do something, these windows into our collective history will close.</p>
<h2>What is grammar?</h2>
<p>The grammar of a language is the set of rules that determines what a sentence is in that language, and what is gibberish. For example, tense is obligatory in English. To combine “Sarah”, “write” and “paper” into a well-formed sentence, I have to indicate a time. If you don’t have tense in an English sentence, then it’s not grammatical.</p>
<p>That’s not the case in all languages though. In the indigenous language of Hokkaido Ainu in Japan, speakers don’t need to specify time at all. They can add words such as “already” or “tomorrow” – but speakers consider the sentence correct without them.</p>
<p>As the great anthropologist Franz Boas <a href="https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/read/fd56490f-c0d0-4959-bd99-12b531bb260d/section/170ed7bf-36ca-461a-bdc3-055bc7b7d898">once said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>grammar […] determines those aspects of each experience that must be expressed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Linguists aren’t interested in “correct” grammar. We know grammar changes over time and from place to place – and that variation isn’t a bad thing to us, it’s amazing!</p>
<p>By studying these rules across languages, we can get an insight into how our minds work, and how we transfer meaning from ourselves to others. We can also learn about our history, where we come from, and how we got here. It’s rather extraordinary. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-remote-indigenous-community-where-a-few-thousand-people-use-15-different-languages-107716">Meet the remote Indigenous community where a few thousand people use 15 different languages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A huge linguistic database of grammar</h2>
<p>We’re thrilled to release <a href="https://grambank.clld.org/">Grambank</a> into the world. Our team of international colleagues built it over several years by reading many books about language rules, and speaking to experts and community members about specific languages.</p>
<p>It was a difficult task. Grammars of different languages can be very different from each other. Moreover, different people have different ways of describing how these rules work. Linguists love jargon, so it was a special challenge to understand them sometimes.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521866/original/file-20230419-20-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We had to read a lot of books for the Grambank project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hedvig Skirgård</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Grambank, we used 195 questions to compare more than 2,400 languages – including two signed languages. The map below provides an overview of what we have captured. </p>
<p>Each dot represents a language, and the more similar the colour, the more similar the languages. To create this map, we used a technique called “principal component analysis” – it reduced the 195 questions to three dimensions, which we then mapped onto red, green and blue. </p>
<p>The large variation in colours reveals how different all these languages are from each other. Where we get regions with similar colours, such as in the Pacific, this could mean the languages are related, or that they have borrowed a lot from each other.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C28%2C4419%2C2924&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C28%2C4419%2C2924&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521664/original/file-20230418-1187-eg6h0d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">World map of languages included in the Grambank dataset. The colour represents grammatical similarity – the more similar the colours, the more similar the grammars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Skirgård et al. (2023)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Language is very special to humans; it’s part of what makes us who we are.</p>
<p>Sadly, the world’s indigenous languages are facing an endangerment crisis due to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01604-y">colonisation and globalisation</a>. We know each language lost <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/iipj/article/view/7500">heavily impacts</a> the health of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228465754_Aboriginal_language_knowledge_and_youth_suicide_Cognitive_Development_22_393-399">Indigenous individuals</a> and communities by severing ties to ancestry and traditional knowledge. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-on-vanuatus-malekula-island-speak-more-than-30-indigenous-languages-heres-why-we-must-record-them-122253">People on Vanuatu's Malekula Island speak more than 30 Indigenous languages. Here's why we must record them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Almost half the world’s linguistic diversity is threatened</h2>
<p>In addition to the loss of individual languages, our team wanted to understand what we stand to lose in terms of grammatical diversity.</p>
<p>The Grambank database reveals a dazzling variety of languages around the world – a testament to the human capacity for change, variation and ingenuity. </p>
<p>Using an ecological measure of diversity, we assessed what kind of loss we could expect if languages that are currently under threat were to disappear. We found certain regions will be hit harder than others. </p>
<p>Frighteningly, some regions of the world such as South America and Australia are expected to lose <em>all</em> of their indigenous linguistic diversity, because all of the indigenous languages there are threatened. Even other regions where languages are relatively safe, such as the Pacific, South-East Asia and Europe, still show a dramatic decrease of about 25%.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521888/original/file-20230419-14-tpzw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barplot of grammatical diversity (functional richness) across regions. Light green shows the current diversity, dark green shows the remaining diversity left after endangered languages are removed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Without sustained support for language revitalisation, many people will be harmed and our shared linguistic window into human history, cognition and culture will become seriously fragmented.</p>
<p>The United Nations declared 2022–2032 the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages">Decade of Indigenous Languages</a>. Around the world, grassroots organisations including the <a href="https://ngukurrlc.org.au/">Ngukurr Language Centre</a>, <a href="https://noongarboodjar.com.au">Noongar Boodjar Language Centre</a>, and the Canadian <a href="http://hcec.ca/index.php/home-page/">Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre</a> are working towards language maintenance and revitalisation. To get a feel for what this can be like, check out this <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/mygrandmotherslingo/">interactive animation</a> by Angelina Joshua.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new, extensive database of language grammars from around the world indicates an alarming trend of global language loss.Hedvig Skirgård, Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologySimon Greenhill, Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028422023-04-05T20:03:08Z2023-04-05T20:03:08ZDon’t fret about students using ChatGPT to cheat – AI is a bigger threat to educational equality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519448/original/file-20230405-18-672lhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C124%2C5523%2C3327&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philipp von Ditfurth/picture alliance via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Schools and universities are panicking about artificial intelligence (AI) and cheating. But AI presents far more significant threats to equity in education. </p>
<p>Fears of cheating typically arise from concerns about fairness. How is it fair that one student spends weeks labouring over an essay, while another asks ChatGPT to write the same thing in just a few minutes? Fretting about giving each student a “fair go” is essential to maintaining the idea of New Zealand as an egalitarian country. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1643315965135032320"}"></div></p>
<p>But as with the myth of the “American dream”, the egalitarian narrative of New Zealand masks more pernicious inequities like <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-academic-streaming-in-new-zealand-schools-be-on-the-way-out-the-evidence-suggests-it-should-be-145617">structural racism</a> and the <a href="https://community.scoop.co.nz/2021/06/nearly-a-third-of-new-zealand-youth-face-housing-stress-youth19-survey/">housing crisis</a>, both of which have an outsized – and decidedly unfair – influence on today’s students. </p>
<p>These persistent inequities dwarf the threat of cheating with AI. Instead of excessive hand wringing about cheating, educators would benefit from preparing for AI’s other inequities, all of which are showcased in OpenAI’s latest large language model (LLM): <a href="https://openai.com/research/gpt-4">GPT-4</a>. </p>
<h2>GPT-4 is here, for a price</h2>
<p>GPT-4, which has refined guardrails and more parameters than ChatGPT, is touted as <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/14/1069823/gpt-4-is-bigger-and-better-chatgpt-openai/">safer and more accurate than its predecessors</a>. But there’s a catch. GPT-4 costs US$20 per month. </p>
<p>For some, that price will be inconsequential. But for those whose budgets have been squeezed thin by <a href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-is-2022s-boogeyman-how-can-we-address-rising-living-costs-while-helping-bring-it-down-187154">skyrocketing inflation</a>, it may be a deal breaker. The democratising potential of AI technology is here, but only if you can afford it. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://gpseducation.oecd.org/revieweducationpolicies/#!node=41748&filter=all">digital divide</a> puts students and educational institutions in two camps. Those with enough resources to enjoy the benefits of AI tools. And those without the same financial flexibility who get left behind. </p>
<p>It may seem small now, but as the cost of AI tools increases, this digital divide could widen into an immense gulf. This should worry educators who have long been concerned about the ways <a href="https://www.digital.govt.nz/showcase/tackling-the-digital-divide-during-covid-19/">unequal access to learning technologies</a> creates inequity among students.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/evolution-not-revolution-why-gpt-4-is-notable-but-not-groundbreaking-201858">Evolution not revolution: why GPT-4 is notable, but not groundbreaking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>AI threatens Indigenous languages and data</h2>
<p>AI tools also perpetuate the global dominance of English at the expense of other languages, especially oral and Indigenous languages. I recently spoke with a Microsoft executive who called these other languages “edge cases” – a term used to describe uncommon cases that cause problems for computer code. </p>
<p>But Indigenous languages are only a “problem” for AI tools because large language models learn from online data sets with little Indigenous content and an overwhelming amount of English content. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1623492857918287873"}"></div></p>
<p>The dominance of English content online is not an accident. English rules the internet because centuries of British colonisation and American cultural imperialism have made English the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1149471/full">lingua franca</a> of global capitalism, education and internet discourse. From this perspective, other languages aren’t inferior to English; they just don’t make as much money as English language content. </p>
<p>But Māori speakers are rightly wary of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-growing-number-of-non-maori-new-zealanders-are-embracing-learning-te-reo-but-theres-more-to-it-than-language-198154">attempts to commodify their language</a>. Too often, the commercialisation of Indigenous knowledge fails to benefit Indigenous people. That’s why it’s essential for Indigenous communities to maintain control over their own information, an idea known as <a href="https://www.temanararaunga.maori.nz/">Indigenous data sovereignty</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-growing-number-of-non-maori-new-zealanders-are-embracing-learning-te-reo-but-theres-more-to-it-than-language-198154">A growing number of non-Māori New Zealanders are embracing learning te reo – but there's more to it than language</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Without Indigenous data sovereignty, these billion-dollar tech companies could extract value from these so-called edge cases and then later decide to stop investing in them.</p>
<p>For educators, these threats are important because AI tools will soon be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/16/technology/microsoft-google-ai-tools-businesses.html">incorporated in Microsoft Office</a>, search engines and other learning platforms. </p>
<p>At Massey University, where I teach, students can submit assignments in te reo Māori or in English. But if the AI writing tools compose better in English than in Māori, then they put Māori language learners at a disadvantage. And if Māori language students are forced to use tools that compromise Indigenous data sovereignty, that’s a problem too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mobile phone displays a notification explaining that access to ChatGpt has been suspended in Italy" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519446/original/file-20230405-22-j0pa8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Banning AI in education creates inequities for some users.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Donato Fasano/Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Banning AI in education also creates inequities</h2>
<p>Although it’s tempting to ban AI in education – as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/01/30/chatgpt-going-banned-teachers-sound-alarm-new-ai-tech/11069593002/">some schools</a> and <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7879">academic journals</a> and even some <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/germany-principle-could-block-chat-gpt-if-needed-data-protection-chief-2023-04-03/">countries</a> have already done – this too augments existing inequities. People with disabilities can <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-ai-tech-like-chatgpt-improve-inclusion-for-people-with-communication-disability-196481">benefit from communicating with AI tools</a>. But like <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/when-you-talk-about-banning-laptops-you-throw-disabled_b_5a1ccb4ee4b07bcab2c6997d">laptop bans</a> from previous eras, AI bans deny students with disabilities access to important learning technologies. </p>
<p>Banning AI will also disadvantage multilingual students who may struggle to write in English. AI tools can help multilingual students learn important English language genres, structures, prose styles and grammar – all skills that contribute to social mobility. But banning AI penalises these multilingual students. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-is-the-push-higher-education-needs-to-rethink-assessment-200314">ChatGPT is the push higher education needs to rethink assessment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Instead of banning AI, educators would be better off <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/chatgpt-schools-teachers.html">modifying their curricula, pedagogies and assessments</a> for the AI tools that will soon become ubiquitous. But revisions like these take more time and resources, something <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/486085/teachers-take-to-the-streets-as-thousands-go-on-strike-nationwide">school teachers</a> and <a href="https://teu.ac.nz/news/university-of-auckland-strikes-re-start/">university educators</a> have both been striking for recently. Teaching institutions must be prepared to invest not only in AI tools but also in the educators who are essential in helping students think critically about using them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Collin Bjork does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>AI technology holds promise for education, but it will also likely exacerbate the digital divide and increase the online dominance of English.Collin Bjork, Senior Lecturer, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2015232023-03-19T11:51:45Z2023-03-19T11:51:45ZWinnipeg proposes new Indigenous street names, but what’s behind claims they’re too hard to pronounce?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515910/original/file-20230316-26-5une0y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C4%2C781%2C353&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The City of Winnipeg has proposed roads named after Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin be renamed with Indigenous names.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Google Street view)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The City of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Relations Division <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bishop-grandin-name-change-proposal-1.6733464">recently submitted suggestions for new names</a> to replace a street and trail currently named after Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin. </p>
<p>The division has suggested that Bishop Grandin Boulevard be renamed Abinojii Mikanah, the Bishop Grandin Trail be renamed Awasisak Mēskanow and Grandin Street be renamed Taapweewin Way. The first two suggestions are Ojibwe and Cree phrases meaning “Children’s Road,” and are meant to represent residential school survivors and the efforts to find the children who never returned home. Taapweewin is the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif">Michif</a> word for truth. </p>
<p>Grandin was a Catholic priest and leading proponent of residential schools who <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bishop-grandin-boulevard-name-change-residential-schools-1.6048648">lobbied the federal government to fund their construction</a>.</p>
<p>Reaction to these new names has been mixed, as can be expected with any change. However, <a href="https://www.chrisd.ca/2023/03/06/bishop-grandin-boulevard-renaming-winnipeg-street/">the primary pushback seems to be that the new names are hard to pronounce</a>. </p>
<p>But what does it mean when we say a word is hard to pronounce?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Islands surrounded by water are seen in the foreground. Mountains are in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515708/original/file-20230316-28-mawpdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Replacing colonial-era names with Indigenous ones is not new to Canada. In 2010, British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Islands were renamed Haida Gwaii after the Haida Nation who live in the archipelago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Borrowing from other languages</h2>
<p>English borrows extensively from other languages, and has since at least 1066, when the <a href="https://scholarworks.harding.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1060&context=tenor">Norman Conquest of Britain resulted in massive borrowing of French words into English</a>. </p>
<p>When we borrow words, we necessarily change their pronunciation, either to adjust for sounds we don’t have in English, or to make them conform to English phonotactic rules, i.e. the rules governing the possible sequences of sounds in a language. </p>
<p>Different languages have different rules or <em>phonotactics</em>. For instance, in English we have certain three-consonant clusters like “str” (strike) or “spl” (split). However, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association/article/ukrainian/D20ECF62B57E4162670BD938A4B8EA33">Ukrainian allows different consonant clusters</a> such as дзвін <em>dzvin</em> meaning “bell” or штраф — <em>shtraf</em> meaning “fine.” </p>
<p>None of the proposed new names <a href="https://www.winnipeg.ca/news/2023-03-06-city-winnipeg-forwards-recommendations-renaming-bishop-grandin-boulevard-bishop">Abinojii Mikanah, Awasisak Mēskanow or Taapweewin</a> have complex syllable structure. They can be broken down into easily pronounceable syllables [a-bi-no-jii mi-ka-nah], [a-wi-si-sak mē-ska-now], and [ta-pwee-win], so they are not hard to pronounce for phonotactic reasons. </p>
<p>Sometimes a borrowed word is hard to pronounce because the sounds of one language don’t exist in another. For example, none of the vowel sounds in the French word <em>entrepreneur</em> exist in English and the “r” sound is also different.</p>
<p>English just does its best to adapt the sounds. We borrow the words anyway, and just pronounce them differently. This happened with many Winnipeg street names that come from French such as <em>Notre Dame, Lagimodière</em>, and <em>Des Meurons</em>, which sound nothing like their original French when they are pronounced in English. But in the new proposed street names, there is no need to adapt any sounds. </p>
<p>It could be that a word uses a writing system or symbols that we don’t recognize, and don’t know how to pronounce. Imagine borrowing <a href="https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2046.html">Japanese kanji</a> or <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/a-question-of-legacy-cree-writing-and-the-origin-of-the-syllabics/">Cree syllabics</a> into English; we simply wouldn’t know what to do with them. </p>
<p>There is a <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/macron">macron</a> on one of the letters in Mēskanow, and there is a double i in Abinojii, so those two can be a bit unfamiliar. But we adapt street names with French accents all the time such as <em>Taché</em>, which is always pronounced with a final vowel, never as “tach.” </p>
<p>It could also be that there are silent letters in the spelling. While English and French are well-known for having silent letters, which generally come from older pronunciations, Cree and Ojibwe are not. So in the proposed names, what you see is what you get. </p>
<p>So what is the problem? What is behind the complaints that Indigenous words are difficult to pronounce?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man near a shoreline wearing an Indigenous feather headdress waves to people in a canoe as they approach. He stands next to a sign that reads: Belcarra Regional Park and shows the new Indigenous name." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515710/original/file-20230316-18-8oad53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2021, Belcarra Regional Park in B.C. was renamed təmtəmíxwtən which local First Nations say translates to ‘biggest place for all the people.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Discomfort with unfamiliar language</h2>
<p>Discomfort with change, and possibly, the question of what is legitimate in the Canadian public sphere, drive these claims of difficult pronunciation. Take, for example, Winnipeg’s Lagimodière Boulevard. It is a long and difficult name for anglophones to pronounce correctly. But nobody proposes we change it because it has been around for so long, and because we accept that French names are legitimate.</p>
<p>There are too many Indigenous place names in Canada to count — Athabasca, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Mégantic, Winnipeg, Ottawa — the list goes on. Indigenous place names have been around longer than Canada, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/origin-name-canada.html">even forming the name of the country itself</a>. So what is different here? </p>
<p>Perhaps it is that in this case Indigenous words are <em>replacing</em> colonial ones. </p>
<p>People are very tied to their language and don’t like change, especially when it challenges a power structure. In Winnipeg, Bishop Grandin, a symbol of colonial power, is being replaced by languages of the historically oppressed: the Cree, the Ojibwe and the Métis. While this is precisely the point behind the change, it may make those uncertain about changing power structures uncomfortable. </p>
<p>If, however, you are simply nervous about learning unfamiliar long words, here are some tips. Break them up into syllables and sound them out. Listen to them being said and repeat them a few times. Given that there are no linguistic difficulties, it shouldn’t take long for them to be rolling off your tongue.</p>
<p>Assuming the new names are approved, they will likely be shortened just like other long names often are: like QEW for Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Way, or Lag for Winnipeg’s Lagimodière Boulevard. </p>
<p>But language matters, and changing a few of our street signs from colonial languages like English and French to Indigenous languages like Cree, Ojibwe and Michif is a small act of <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524495846286/1557513199083">reconciliation</a> that can have a meaningful impact.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201523/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Rosen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Some have claimed the proposed new Indigenous names for Winnipeg streets are too difficult to pronounce. But what does it mean when we say a word is hard to pronounce?Nicole Rosen, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Language Interactions, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1985822023-01-27T18:58:07Z2023-01-27T18:58:07ZTo revitalize Indigenous communities, the Residential School settlement must prioritize language education<p>After a decade, the federal government has reached an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit that included 325 First Nations across Canada. The class action was initiated by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and shíshálh Nation in 2012. It was concerned with, among other issues, the loss of language and culture through Residential Schools. The settlement, worth $2.8 billion, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/crown-indigenous-relations-northern-affairs/news/2022/01/gottfriedson-indian-residential-school-day-scholars-settlement-claims-process-now-open.html">includes support for cultural revitalization with focus on heritage, wellness and languages</a>.</p>
<p>Efforts toward cultural revitalization will be funded by the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1641331043370/1641331075419#s6">$50 million Day Scholars Revitalization Fund</a>. An important aspect of the <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com/the-day-scholars-revitalization-fund/">fund will be the central role Indigenous Peoples</a> will have in managing and guiding the process of supporting the cultural revitalization.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-2-8-billion-settlement-with-indigenous-day-scholars-is-a-long-time-coming-198491">Canada's $2.8 billion settlement with Indigenous Day Scholars is a long time coming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This settlement, just as the <a href="https://indiandayschools.com/en/">Indian Day School Settlement</a> and the <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074#sect1">Indian Residential School Settlement</a> before it, focuses on the justice necessary to address physical and emotional harms, and the long term impacts that they had for Indigenous communities and their national, cultural and traditional identities.</p>
<p>These traumatic impacts were deliberately put upon Indigenous Peoples through focus on the most vulnerable members of a community — <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/">their children</a>. Over generations, many Indigenous children and youth who were attending these schools lost their language, culture and <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/voices/%E2%80%98every-child-matters%E2%80%99-one-year-after-unmarked-graves-215-indigenous-children-were-found-in#">thousands lost their lives</a>. The trauma of those experiences may be too horrific to recount. The intergenerational trauma experienced by the communities affected by these schools were also traumatic and <a href="https://theconversation.com/residential-school-system-recognized-as-genocide-in-canadas-house-of-commons-a-harbinger-of-change-196774">constitute genocide</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men sit at a table. A Canadian flag hangs on a flag pole behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506695/original/file-20230126-37024-djve0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Chief Shane Gottfriedson (left) and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller at a news conference in Vancouver on Jan. 21, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Revitalizing Indigenous languages</h2>
<p>A recurrent theme in the narratives of survivors is how <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/4-impacts-residential-schools-indigenous-people/">Indigenous identities have been adversely affected, and principal among those aspects are Indigenous languages</a>. Frequently regarded as one of the central components of Indigenous cultural identity, language revitalization has become of paramount importance.</p>
<p><a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action</a> contain a number of imperatives related to languages. Call to Action 14 identifies Indigenous languages as “a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society.” The reasons behind this are not difficult to understand: language allows humans to communicate ideas and is one of the pillars that support a people’s culture, traditions and history.</p>
<p>The importance of Indigenous languages is not just reflected in the special cultural and national features that they represent for Indigenous Peoples. They also are <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/voices/ancestral-languages-are-essential-to-indigenous-identities-in-canada">the optimum way to represent Indigenous knowledge, heritage and consciousness</a> — such manifestations are undermined by the use of non-Indigenous languages.</p>
<h2>Restoring agency</h2>
<p>The Day Scholars Revitalization Fund represents an important opportunity for those involved in the class action. First and foremost is the issue of agency. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2022/07/the-government-of-canada-supports-indigenous-led-efforts-to-revitalize-indigenous-languages.html">Responsibility for developing and employing a plan of action to utilize the funds rests with Indigenous Peoples</a>. </p>
<p>The issue of agency is essential given the history of unjust government control over matters that affect Indigenous communities. Indigenous people must have an adequate voice, influence and control in regard to issues, initiatives and policy that affect them, their communities and their territories. As is frequently proclaimed by Indigenous Peoples: <a href="https://www.longwoods.com/content/24947/insights/-nothing-about-us-without-us-taking-action-on-indigenous-health">Nothing about us without us!</a></p>
<h2>Community initiatives</h2>
<p>There are a number of ways that Indigenous communities can support the revitalization of their languages. The fundamental starting point is best summed up by the words of then chief commissioner of the TRC, Murray Sinclair: “<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/06/30/self-educating-and-speaking-out-essential-for-reconciliation-indigenous-lecturer-says.html">Education got us into this mess and education will get us out</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly man with grey hair wearing a dark grey suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506697/original/file-20230126-35457-blwv85.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">shíshálh Nation hiwus (Chief) Warren Paull speaks during the news conference in Vancouver on Jan. 21, 2023. Agency is essential given the history of unjust government control over matters that affect Indigenous communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada has a <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm">rich and diverse history of Indigenous languages</a>. However, most Indigenous children and youth, whether in public or on-reserve schools, are still educated in English and French.</p>
<p>There are however some encouraging developments in some Indigenous communities. In the far north, efforts have been made to ensure that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-bilingual-indigenous-language-education-1.4789013">Inuktut is the principal language of instruction in some Inuit schools</a>. In Manitoba, <a href="https://www.lrsd.net/page/1496/year-of-indigenous-languages">some school divisions have created opportunities for First Nations languages such as Anishinaabemowin to be featured in classroom programming</a>.</p>
<p>Partnerships between Indigenous communities and their respective schools need to be established to support the sorts of institutional transformations necessary to support curricular development, classroom resources and recruitment of qualified teachers.</p>
<p>These transformations require the voice, influence and control of Indigenous Peoples, and efforts should be marshalled to support such participation. Indigenous communities have worked hard to establish such partnerships. In the community of Kahnawa:ke, schools such as Karonhianónhnha Tsi Ionterihwaienstáhkhwa employ an immersion programme <a href="https://www.kecedu.ca/schools/karonhian-nhnha-tsi-ionterihwaienst-hkhwa/programs-and-services">to sustain the Kanien’keha language</a>.</p>
<p>Educational programming is crucial to revitalizing Indigenous languages, but it’s not the only piece of this puzzle. <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-language-revitalization-in-canada">Community conditions outside of the school in which children and youth have opportunities to speak the language are also essential</a>. </p>
<p>Communities need to develop strategies that provide improved opportunities for young people to learn and retain their language. Children and youth should be encouraged to use Indigenous languages outside of school as well through community laws, commerce and media. Such initiatives require the commitment of community members and the support of the Day Scholars Revitalization Fund may be well suited for this purpose.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198582/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Deer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recurrent theme in the testimonies of Residential School survivors is how their cultural and linguistic identities were adversely affected.Frank Deer, Professor, Associate Dean, and Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Education, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984912023-01-26T22:42:40Z2023-01-26T22:42:40ZCanada’s $2.8 billion settlement with Indigenous Day Scholars is a long time coming<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506258/original/file-20230125-26-5bbipe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C68%2C6461%2C4106&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Chief Shane Gottfriedson, left, speaks as hiwus (Chief) Warren Paull, of the shíshálh Nation, listens during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Jan. 21, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eleven years. That’s how long it took the federal government to agree with 325 First Nations over the collective loss of language and culture <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">suffered by Day Scholars in the Residential School system in Canada that existed between the mid 1800s until 1996</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.irsss.ca/faqs/what-are-day-scholars">Day scholars</a> <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com/schools-lists/">attended a Residential School during the day</a> but didn’t sleep there overnight. </p>
<p>While Day Scholars settled an individual <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com">compensation package for just $10,000 each earlier in 2022</a>, this new agreement is specifically aimed at rectifying the systematic and forced removal of language and culture through these institutions. </p>
<h2>Left out of original agreement</h2>
<p>In 2012, members of the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and shíshálh Nation led by Shane Gottfriedson and Garry Feschuk</a> launched a national class-action lawsuit for Day Scholars who were left out of the original <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074">Indian Residential School (IRS) Settlement Agreement (2006)</a>.</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had already determined that abuse was suffered by students who were forced to attend Residential Schools at night, but nearby public schools during the day. </p>
<p>In “The Survivors Speak” section of the report, Emily Kematch who attended the Residential School in Dauphin, Man., which operated under this Day Scholars model at the time explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It wasn’t a good experience. ‘Cause this was my first time too, going to the white system with the white kids and we weren’t treated very well there. We got called down quite a bit. They use to call us squ-ws and neechies, and dirty Indian, you know. They’d drive by in their cars and say awful things to us. Even the girls
didn’t associate with us, the white girls, they didn’t associate with us.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This institution was also where, the “<a href="https://nctr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_2_English_Web.pdf">one recorded prosecution for the abuse</a> of Residential School students in Manitoba” occurred. <a href="https://nctr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_1_History_Part_2_English_Web.pdf">The TRC noted</a>: “In 2005, Ernest Constant who had attended the Dauphin school in the early 1960s and worked there in the late 1960 as a supervisor was convicted of indecently assaulting seven Dauphin students.” Day Scholars experienced similar types of abuse as people whose experiences were included under earlier agreements, but it has taken over 16 years to receive some form of justice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People carrying feathers take part in an Indigenous dance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506260/original/file-20230125-18-102fb3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People dance during a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc announcement of the detection of the remains of 215 children at an unmarked burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, in Kamloops, B.C., on May 23, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decade-long court battles</h2>
<p>Each one of the subsequent class-action settlement agreements has taken roughly a decade to unfold through the legal process:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015576/1571581687074#sect1">Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement</a> (1990s ca.-2006);</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://indiandayschools.com/en/">Indian Day School Settlement Agreement</a> (2009-2019); </p></li>
<li><p>and now the <a href="https://www.justicefordayscholars.com/">Indian Residential School Day Scholars Agreement</a> (2012-2023). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Together these agreements represent the largest reparations paid to Indigenous people as a direct result of colonialism. However, each agreement has been earned through the dedication of survivors to fight these battles through court, not the generosity of the Canadian state. </p>
<h2>325 First Nations</h2>
<p>Unlike the previous two agreements, this agreement finally allows for all 325 First Nations to decide themselves how the funding will revitalize their language and culture independently of the government. </p>
<p>Direct ownership of the funding will not funnel through law firms, or government bodies, but rather through the First Nations themselves. If officially settled at the end of February, communities will be provided an initial $200,000 followed by sustained payments over the course of the next two decades to support this revitalization through the hiring of staff, creation of learning centres or in any other way they see fit. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-reckoning-with-colonialism-and-education-must-include-indian-day-schools-185464">Canada’s reckoning with colonialism and education must include Indian Day Schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While this provides an opportunity to protect critically endangered languages, it only provides a small one-time compensation payment of $10,000 for eligible members. </p>
<p>Last January, these one-time-payments were opened, but the Gottfriedson class-action continued to fight for a separate band of funding for language revitalization efforts which was announced last week. </p>
<h2>Defining moment</h2>
<p>On one hand, this prevents the re-victimization of students who suffered through the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjls.27.1.129">Indian Residential School Settlement Independent Assessment Process</a>. But on the other, it does not provide greater compensation to those who suffered the most. </p>
<p>This agreement also signals a defining moment for the Trudeau government to settle all outstanding claims against the Canadian state. The agreement’s wording suggests that the government will be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/residential-school-band-class-action-settlement-1.6722014">“Fully, finally and forever”</a> released from collective harms suffered in Residential Schools. </p>
<p>It is not immediately clear if that same condition also falls on the churches in Canada who operated the schools and perpetuated the loss of culture and language along with other horrendous abuses. Last summer, <em>The Canadian Press</em> reported details <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-deal-catholic-church-fundraising-1.6557533">of a 2015 agreement in which Canada agreed to “forever discharge” Catholic entities</a> from their promise to raise $25 million for Residential School survivors. The discharge happened after Catholic entities raised less than $4 million.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/catholic-bishops-30-million-1.6191677">September 2021</a>, in the wake of criticism, Canadian bishops <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8997434/canada-bishops-fundraiser-residential-schools/">pledged to raise $30 million</a> by January 2027. In Nov. 2022, APTN <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/catholic-church-says-it-will-take-4-more-years-to-raise-30m-for-survivors">reported $5.5 million has been raised to date</a> and that the Canadian Catholic Church spent $18.6 million on the papal visit. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reparations-to-indigenous-peoples-are-critical-after-popes-apology-for-residential-schools-187823">Reparations to Indigenous Peoples are critical after Pope's apology for residential schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The back of a figure slightly out of focus seen next to two seated people listening." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506262/original/file-20230125-12-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phil Fontaine, then Assembly of First Nations chief (left), and Beverly Jacobs, then president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (right), listen as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologizes for Residential Schools in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, June 11, 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tom Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Apologize for all colonial schooling</h2>
<p>Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100015644/1571589171655">apology for Residential Schools in 2008</a> came before two of the three settlements against Canada. </p>
<p>With this settlement’s ending of all outstanding agreements clause, it is crucial for the federal government to also apologize for all these types of schooling that damaged Indigenous languages.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, with this announcement there will also be a wave of <a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">Residential School denialism</a> and criticism over the amount of money spent on this settlement. </p>
<p>For some perspective, Canada has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-announces-military-aid-ukraine-1.6650616">committed over $3 billion for the war in Ukraine</a> which has so far lasted 11 months. It will be paying slightly less for the over 150 years of targeted colonization that devastated Indigenous communities and has <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8604620/bc-researchers-revitalizing-indigenous-language/">left 75 per cent of Indigenous languages endangered in this country</a>.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story published Jan. 26, 2023. The earlier story said Day Scholars lived in Residential Schools but attended school during the day in white communities.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jackson Pind received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>This new agreement finally allows First Nations to decide for themselves how the funding will revitalize their language and culture independently of the government.Jackson Pind, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Methodologies, Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962662023-01-08T13:26:21Z2023-01-08T13:26:21ZSupporting minority languages requires more than token gestures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503327/original/file-20230105-12-dlbbtf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C77%2C7315%2C4825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Language policy in Canada suggests misunderstanding among government officials and the general public about language use, international language rights and their implications.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In August 2022, Statistics Canada released the latest census data on languages in Canada. According to the data, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220817/dq220817a-eng.htm">over nine million people — or one in four Canadians</a> — has a mother tongue other than English or French (a record high since the 1901 census). </p>
<p><a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2022051-eng.htm">Twelve per cent of Canadians</a> speak a language other than English or French at home. Statistics Canada observes that the country’s linguistic diversity will likely continue to grow into the future.</p>
<p>Yet, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bill-96-explained-1.6460764">recent developments</a> in language policy and practices in Canada reveal that there is confusion and misunderstanding among government officials and the general public about language use, international language rights and their implications.</p>
<p>In Canada, there must be greater understanding of the cultural and linguistic rights of minorities. According to universally accepted human rights, persons belonging to majorities and minorities should have equal rights. Minorities are entitled to equal conditions and services to enable them to maintain their identity, culture and language.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white street sign in the English and Inuit languages that reads: Mittimatalil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503328/original/file-20230105-2013-1d6fbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A street sign in the English and Inuit languages at Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, Nvt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 1966 <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>, a human rights treaty to which Canada is a party, provides that “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.”</p>
<p>The 1992 <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-rights-persons-belonging-national-or-ethnic">UN Declaration on Minorities</a> clarifies and expands on this treaty provision. It stipulates that UN member states should enact legislative and other measures to protect minority identities.</p>
<h2>Confusing words</h2>
<p>Two words <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-003-1024-0">are often confused</a> in Canada: integration and assimilation. When speaking about immigrants and refugees, <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/page-1.html#h-274085">Canadian law’s stated objective is integration</a>. And the default framework for integration is the majority culture and language. </p>
<p>Non-anglophone and non-francophone immigrants are expected to adapt and conform to the Canadian way of doing things, learn Canadian history, celebrate Canadian holidays and speak in one or both of Canada’s official languages.</p>
<p>But these languages reflect the cultures of Canada’s two historically dominant groups. For many Indigenous people and immigrants, histories, holidays and languages differ from the majority of Canadians.</p>
<p>Involuntary assimilation is <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/133/85/PDF/G0513385.pdf?OpenElement">prohibited under international law</a>. This is a colonialist and imperialist practice which ultimately forces people to alter or surrender their identity, culture and dissolve into the majority. </p>
<p>Canada’s notorious <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools">residential schools</a> were one of the harshest examples of such assimilationist policies. Other essentially assimilationist practices continue to this day. For example, the law states that provinces must provide education to English or French-speaking minorities <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art23.html">in their own language</a>. But there is no similar legislation for Indigenous languages, nor for those spoken by people who immigrate from all around the world. These policies will increasingly conflict with growing diversity as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63643912">Canada seeks to welcome 1.5 million immigrants</a> over the next three years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/language-learning-in-canada-needs-to-change-to-reflect-superdiverse-communities-144037">Language learning in Canada needs to change to reflect 'superdiverse' communities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast, <a href="https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/0/9/96883.pdf">integration</a> is based on recognition of diversity. Integration is a two-way process through which minorities and majorities learn about and engage with each other’s cultures and languages. </p>
<p>While maintaining their own distinctiveness, majority and minority groups contribute to shared foundations and institutions of the society out of common interest and for mutual benefit. This is important for the many individuals who possess multiple or overlapping identities.</p>
<p>In 2012, the <a href="https://www.osce.org/">Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe</a>, of which Canada is a participating state, released <a href="https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/0/9/96883.pdf">Guidelines on Integration of Diverse Societies</a>, in which it explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Integration is a process that requires that all members of a given society accept common public institutions and have a shared sense of belonging to a common State and an inclusive society. This does not exclude the possibility of distinct identities, which are constantly evolving, multiple and contextual. Mechanisms aiming at mutual accommodation are essential to negotiate the legitimate claims put forward by different groups or communities.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Integration requires accommodation of diversity. It also means that governments should invest proportionally in the promotion of majority and minority cultures and languages with a view to facilitating full lives in dignity and equal rights for everyone. This requires more than token support for cultural activities such as traditional food and dance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People at a protest carry signs featuring the number 96 with a red line across it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503326/original/file-20230105-22-y6z2o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People take part in a protest against Bill 96 in Montréal. Québec’s language law reform, known as Bill 96, forbids provincial government agencies and municipalities from using languages other than French.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also confusion around the issue of minority language status. In Canada there is a common belief that the only minority language(s) entitled to protection are the ones with official or other recognized status. But according to international human rights principles, all minority cultures and languages should be protected <a href="https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/GA/report/A_74_160.pdf">regardless of whether they hold “official” status</a>. </p>
<p>This means that the languages of Indigenous Peoples as well as of other people living in Canada should be acknowledged and facilitated. This is essential for their well-being and for genuine equality in rights.</p>
<h2>Not a zero-sum game</h2>
<p>Genuine integration should respect and promote diversity in the languages used in various contexts of public life. This does not necessarily require changing the number and status of official languages; it’s not a zero-sum game. But it does require adjusting language policies to reconcile with existing realities in reasonable and meaningful ways. The aim is real and effective equality. </p>
<p>Technological innovations (such as easily accessible <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/05/translation-tech-solutions-language-barriers-google-translate-interpreter/4596091002/">real-time translation</a>) make this more possible and cost-effective than ever.</p>
<p>In order to live together peacefully and embrace diversity, Canadians need to understand that languages are not just a means of technical communication, but are often at the core of people’s identity and culture. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/residential-day-school-survivors-who-lost-language-and-culture-seek-redress-1.3032862">Taking away a person’s language</a> often amounts to taking away their sense of self, dignity and community belonging. It also suppresses the remarkable linguistic assets that Canada possesses.</p>
<p>Building a Canadian nation through assimilation of minorities in the face of increasing diversity only generates social tensions and conflicts. It is not democracy, it is majoritarianism. It is contrary to fundamental human rights and signals social regression rather than progress. </p>
<p>Instead, Canada should foster a forward-looking, human-centred and dynamic society that embraces diversity, multiculturalism and multilingualism. This is to our advantage. Canada’s rich linguistic diversity is an asset that should be valued. We must cast off the old colonialist thinking and seize the rich possibilities that are at hand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Veaceslav Balan is a member of the University of Ottawa Human Rights Research and Education Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frederick John Packer receives funding from SSHRC. He is affiliated with a number of human rights NGOs including Human Rights Watch (Canada Committee) and the International Commission of Jurists (Canada Section). </span></em></p>Canada’s population is more diverse than ever, with many different languages represented. Government policy must reflect that diversity and offer meaningful support to minority languages.Veaceslav Balan, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaFrederick John Packer, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945242022-12-11T19:05:58Z2022-12-11T19:05:58ZTradition and innovation: how we are documenting sign language in a Gurindji community in northern Australia<p>Some people are surprised when they first hear about Australian Indigenous sign languages. </p>
<p>While the broader community is increasingly aware of the richness of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/specials/unlocking-science/giving-new-life-to-old-languages-in-australia/">First Nations spoken languages</a>, sign has generally been below the radar until recently. Yet sign languages are widespread, culturally valued and of great antiquity. </p>
<p>Sign appears in records that go back to the early days of colonisation. Some even speculate that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0205">handshapes found in some forms of rock art</a> in Australia and other parts of the world may be evidence of age-old forms of signing or signalling.</p>
<p>Indigenous sign languages are mainly used by hearing people. They vary across the country, and there are differences in the size of their vocabularies, with an upper limit of well over 1,000 signs, as <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/sociolinguistics/sign-languages-aboriginal-australia-cultural-semiotic-and-communicative-perspectives?format=PB">Adam Kendon</a> found for the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert.</p>
<p>People in the Gurindji community of Kalkaringi in northern Australia call their sign language “Takataka”. </p>
<p>Takataka is used across the generations, and <a href="https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781925581836">young children learn some signs</a> and simple sign phrases before they talk. Sign is used to show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.20015.gre">respect</a> for particular kin relations. </p>
<p>In times of bereavement or “sorry business” certain relatives of the deceased observe bans of silence. Gurindji <em>wangu</em> (widows) sign to metaphorically “keep the volume down” by not talking. </p>
<p>Sign is useful when hunting, not because wild animals are dangerous for humans, but because speaking could scare them off. Sign is also used when people are visible to each other yet out of hearing range, for example to communicate between people in cars about who is going where.</p>
<h2>Documenting Gurindji sign language</h2>
<p>Between 2016 and 2018, we worked closely with the local art centre, Karungkarni Art, to make video documentations of Takataka. Our recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2022.2105137">study</a> is the first description of Gurindji sign. </p>
<p>We also made educational resources for signs. We created a set of <a href="http://batchelorpress.com/node/373">posters</a> and a series of short <a href="https://ictv.com.au/video/item/6213">films</a> for ICTV. </p>
<p>One of the posters illustrates some common kin signs. The <a href="https://iltyemiltyem.com/search/?_sf_s=father&post_types=gurindji">sign for <em>ngaji</em></a> (father, also used for some aunts, nephews and nieces) is formed by touching the chin. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://iltyemiltyem.com/search/?_sf_s=wife&post_types=gurindji">sign for <em>ngumparna</em> (husband) and <em>mungkaj</em> (wife)</a> is formed by touching the back of one hand with the palm of the other. </p>
<p>Apart from signs for people there are signs for plants, animals, and places, as well as signs for recent phenomena such as <a href="https://iltyemiltyem.com/search/?_sf_s=police&post_types=gurindji">police</a> and <a href="https://iltyemiltyem.com/search/?_sf_s=money&post_types=gurindji">money</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-14-indigenous-words-for-money-on-our-new-50-cent-coin-113110">The 14 Indigenous words for money on our new 50 cent coin</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Signs of the times</h2>
<p>Pointing is another important part of the communicative toolkit at Kalkaringi, and it almost always accompanies discussions of locations, both near and far. People point in the correct direction, even to places out of sight. </p>
<p>Using accurate pointing to locate places and objects is also reflected in the spoken language. As is the case for many other Indigenous peoples, Gurindji speakers use the cardinal terms north, south, east and west to describe where things are, rather than the words left and right. It is not uncommon to hear sentences like “The flour is to the west of the sugar on the shelf”.</p>
<p>Another way the Gurindji demonstrate their anchoring in the world is in their signs for time. Relating times of day to the position and path of the sun is one time-reference strategy found in some sign languages of the world. Other sign languages may use the front and back of the body, or its left and right sides to distinguish past and future. </p>
<p>In Takataka, “tomorrow” is signed with an arced movement of the hand from east to west, as if tracking the sun and fast forwarding through the day. “Yesterday” is signed with a similar arc sweeping from west to east – a “day in reverse”. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/776458857" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cassandra Algy demonstrates the signs for ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’ on an east-west axis.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other Gurindji signs, and signs from other language groups, can be found on <a href="https://iltyemiltyem.com/">iltyem-iltyem</a>, a website dedicated to the signing practices of Indigenous peoples from across Central and Northern Australia.</p>
<h2>Diversity of sign languages</h2>
<p>Takataka is not related to <a href="https://auslan.org.au/">Auslan</a>, the most widespread deaf community sign language used in Australia. However, some influences from Auslan can be seen in recent innovations to Gurindji sign. </p>
<p>One mother of a deaf Gurindji child told us how lucky she was to discover pictures of <a href="https://auslan.org.au/spell/twohanded.html">Auslan fingerspelling</a> in the telephone directory in the early 1990s. The mother learnt the system herself and then went on to teach her child and their classmates.</p>
<p>The study of Australian Indigenous sign languages contributes to the worldwide picture of diversity in sign languages and shows how the human genius for communication enlists useful resources to fulfil changing needs. </p>
<p>Change and innovation is a characteristic of all human languages, signed languages being no exception. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-origins-of-pama-nyungan-australias-largest-family-of-aboriginal-languages-92997">The origins of Pama-Nyungan, Australia's largest family of Aboriginal languages</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Green received funding from an ARC (Australian Research Council) Fellowship (DE160100873), and from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL) (CE140100041). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Meakins received funding from an ARC (Australian Research Council) Fellowship (FT170100042), and from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (CoEDL) (CE140100041).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Algy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People in the Gurindji community of Kalkaringi in northern Australia call their sign language ‘Takataka’.Jennifer Green, Postdoctoral Fellow In Australian Sign Languages, The University of MelbourneCassandra Algy, Research Assistant, Indigenous KnowledgeFelicity Meakins, Professor of Linguistics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1936032022-11-03T12:05:39Z2022-11-03T12:05:39ZIndigenous languages make inroads into public schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492822/original/file-20221101-26-bnizxp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C289%2C163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">James Gensaw, a Yurok language high school teacher in far northern California, goes over some words with a student.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mneesha Gellman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whenever November would roll around, James Gensaw, a Yurok language high school teacher in far northern California, would get a request from a school administrator. They would always ask him to bring students from the Native American Club, which he advises, to demonstrate Yurok dancing on the high school quad at lunch time.</p>
<p>“On the one hand, it was nice that the school wanted to have us share our culture,” Gensaw told me during an interview. “On the other, it wasn’t always respectful. Some kids would make fun of the Native American dancers, mimicking war cries and calling out ‘chief.’”</p>
<p>“The media would be invited to come cover the dancing as part of their Thanksgiving coverage, and it felt like we were a spectacle,” he continued. “Other cultural groups and issues would sometimes be presented in school assemblies, in the gym, where teachers monitored student behavior. I thought, why didn’t we get to have that? We needed more respect for sharing our culture.” James Gensaw’s work in California’s public high schools as a Yurok language teacher and mentor to Native American students is part of a reckoning with equity and justice in schools.</p>
<h2>Yurok language in schools</h2>
<p>Tribal officials say Gensaw is one of 16 advanced-level Yurok language-keepers alive today. An enrolled Yurok tribal member, Gensaw is also part of the tribe’s <a href="https://www.yuroklanguage.com/">Yurok Language Program</a>, which is at the forefront of efforts to keep the Yurok language alive.</p>
<p>Today, the Yurok language is offered as an elective at four high schools in far northern California. The classes meet language instruction requirements for admission to University of California and California State University systems.</p>
<p>Yurok language classes are also offered in local Head Start preschool programs as well as in some K-8 schools when there is teacher availability, and at the College of the Redwoods, the regional community college. To date, eight high school seniors have been awarded California’s <a href="https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2019/may/14/eureka-high-students-receive-first-california-seal/">State Seal of Biliteracy in Yurok</a>, a prestigious accomplishment that signifies commitment to and competency in the language.</p>
<p>When I started researching the effects of Yurok language access on young people in 2016, there were approximately 12 advanced-level speakers, according to the Yurok Language Program. The 16 advanced-level speakers in 2022 represent a growing speaker base and they are something to celebrate. Despite colonization and attempts to <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1033640135">eradicate the Yurok language</a> by interrupting the transfer of language from parents to their children, Yurok speakers are still here.</p>
<p>Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, boarding schools in the United States operated as spaces for what I refer to as “culturecide” — the killing of culture — in my latest book, “<a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812254044/indigenous-language-politics-in-the-schoolroom/">Indigenous Language Politics in the Schoolroom: Cultural Survival in Mexico and the United States</a>.” Students in both the United States and Mexico were often made to attend schools where they were beaten for speaking Indigenous languages. Now, new generations are being encouraged to sign up to study the same language many of their grandparents and great-grandparents were forced to forget.</p>
<h2>Language as resistance</h2>
<p>The Yurok Tribe made the decision years ago to <a href="https://www.yuroktribe.org/education">prioritize growing the number of Yurok speakers</a> and as part of that, to teach Yurok to anyone who wanted to learn. They have many <a href="https://www.yuroklanguage.com/virtual-learning-spaces">online resources</a> that are open for all. Victoria Carlson is the Yurok Language Program Manager and a language-keeper herself. She is teaching Yurok to her children as a first language, and she drives long distances to teach the language at schools throughout Humboldt and Del Norte counties.</p>
<p>“When we speak Yurok, we are saying that we are still here,” Carson said in an interview with me, echoing a sentiment that many Yurok students relayed to me as well. “Speaking our language is a form of resisting all things that have been done to our people.”</p>
<p>The students in Mr. Gensaw’s classes are majority, but not exclusively, Native American. Through my research I learned that there are white students who sign up out of interest or because nothing else fit in their schedule. There are Asian American students who wish that Hmong or Mandarin was a language option, but they take Yurok since it is the most unique language choice available. And there are Latinx students who already are bilingual in English and Spanish and who want to challenge themselves linguistically.</p>
<p>In my book and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=R00JOgwAAAAJ&hl=en">related publications</a>, I document how access to Indigenous languages in school benefits different groups of students in a range of ways. Heritage-speakers — those who have family members who speak the language — get to shine in the classroom as people with authority over the content, something that <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/publications/failing-grade-status-native-american-education-humboldt-county">many Native American students struggle with</a> in other classes. White students have their eyes opened to <a href="https://ijcis.qut.edu.au/article/view/2322/1223">Native presence that is sorely missing</a> when they study the Gold Rush, Spanish missionaries in California, or other standard topics of K-12 education that are taught from a colonizing perspective. And students from non-heritage minority backgrounds <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9780812254044/indigenous-language-politics-in-the-schoolroom/">report</a> an increased interest in their own identities. They often go to elders to learn some of their own family languages after being inspired that such knowledge is worth being proud of.</p>
<p>Bringing languages like Yurok into schools that are still, as historian Donald Yacovone points out, <a href="https://www.harvard.com/book/teaching_white_supremacy/">dominated by white supremacist content</a>, does not in and of itself undo the effects of colonization. Getting rid of curricula that teach the <a href="https://upstanderproject.org/learn/guides-and-resources/first-light/doctrine-of-discovery">Doctrine of Discovery</a> – the notion that colonizers “discovered” the Americas and had a legal right to it – is a long-term process. But placing Native American languages into public schools both affirms the validity of Indigenous cultural knowledge and also <a href="https://ijcis.qut.edu.au/article/view/2322/1223">asserts the contemporary existence of Native people</a> at the same time. It is a place to start.</p>
<h2>One step at a time</h2>
<p>In my experience, as a researcher on education policy and democracy, I have found that <a href="https://affect.coe.hawaii.edu/lessons/instruction-that-responds-to-flourishes-with-the-cultural-linguistic-background-of-students-families/">putting more culturally diverse courses in school</a> is something that better prepares young people to learn how to interact in healthy ways with people who are different from themselves.</p>
<p>Gensaw, the Yurok language teacher, is at the forefront of this. One year when he was again asked if he could bring the students to dance around Thanksgiving time, he said yes, but not on the quad. He requested a school assembly space where student behavior could be monitored. The school said yes, and the students danced without being demeaned by their peers. These steps are just the beginning of what it takes to undo the effects of colonization.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mneesha Gellman received funding from the Sociological Initiative Foundation, the Phillips Fund of the American Philosophical Society, and Alma Ostrom and the American Political Science Association's Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs to partially support research on which this article is based. </span></em></p>Indigenous language instructors struggle to keep their languages from becoming lost.Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1907332022-10-07T13:19:44Z2022-10-07T13:19:44ZEffort to recover Indigenous language also revitalizes culture, history and identity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488623/original/file-20221006-24-3wzws4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3872%2C2567&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Myaamia Heritage Program students get a lesson from Daryl Baldwin, executive director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scott Kissell, Miami University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>When the federal government set up boarding schools in the 19th century to assimilate Native American children into American culture, one of the objectives was to get them to turn away from the use of their native languages. In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the U.S., The Conversation turned to Daryl Baldwin, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma who is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190610029.013.26">leader in Native American language and cultural revitalization</a> and a member of the National Council on the Humanities, for insight into a tribal community’s efforts working with a university to help bring languages back.</em></p>
<h2>How were Indigenous languages lost?</h2>
<p>Many actions throughout history put pressure on tribal communities to abandon the use of their languages. This included the forced assimilation that resulted from the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-haaland-announces-federal-indian-boarding-school-initiative">Indian Civilization Act of 1819</a>. This act established <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/a-century-of-trauma-at-boarding-schools-for-native-american-children-in-the-united-states">Indian boarding schools</a> to teach subjects such as math and science while suppressing the use of Indigenous languages and cultures. </p>
<p>Boarding schools lasted until the mid-20th century, and their effect was <a href="https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inline-files/bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf">devastating for Indigenous communities and their languages</a>. Linguists have estimated that prior to European settlement, there were 300 Indigenous languages spoken in what is now the United States. Communities are struggling to <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com">pass these languages</a> on to a younger generation.</p>
<p>These affected communities include the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, of which I am a citizen. The Miami Tribe lost the last speakers of the Myaamia language during the mid-20th century in part due to these assimilation efforts. Additionally, the forced relocation of the Tribe from its homeland in the Ohio-Indiana region to Kansas, and eventually Oklahoma, during the 19th century caused the community to become fragmented due to some families remaining behind or being exempt from relocation. </p>
<p>These factors also increased the stress on the community to simply survive. Many tribal members and elders from this time have recounted how they didn’t pass the language on to their children for <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/poll-native-americans-discrimination/">fear of discrimination</a>.</p>
<h2>Why bring the languages back?</h2>
<p>Simply put, our languages help make us whole again. When we empower our cultural selves through speaking our languages, we begin to undo the damage caused by years of cultural and linguistic oppression. </p>
<p>For the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, language and cultural revitalization is a priority. We contribute significant <a href="https://www.givetomiamioh.org/s/916/22/landing-int.aspx?sid=916&gid=1&pgid=18910&cid=36270&ecid=36270&crid=0&calpgid=4816&calcid=9345">time and financial resources</a> into educational programs that help tribal citizens reconnect to their cultural heritage.</p>
<p>When we engage in revitalization activities, we are weaving strands of knowledge, cultural practices and other ways of being into our lives so we may draw on them as a source of community strength. Today, this encompasses <a href="https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/">all aspects of our lives</a>, including art, games and food, as well as song and dance. For many of us, our Myaamia language is central to this process.</p>
<p>Since 1972, Miami University has been an important partner in this process of language and cultural revitalization. The Myaamia Center – the tribe’s research arm – directly supports the <a href="https://miamioh.edu/miami-tribe-relations/programming-support/myaamia-heritage-award-program/index.html?_ga=2.3565305.874042785.1664204266-210504936.1653569714">Myaamia Heritage Program</a>. The program provides Miami Tribe students with tuition waivers and a unique opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage while earning a college degree. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488624/original/file-20221006-26-cwcssb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jenna Corral, a Myaamia Heritage Program participant who graduated from Miami University in 2021, admires her graduation stole featuring traditional ribbonwork and writing in the Myaamia language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scott Kissell, Miami University</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What practical uses do these languages serve?</h2>
<p>Language was an important aspect of my home when my four kids were young. Being able to say <em>teepaalilaani</em> – “I love you” – and to sing bedtime songs to my children – <em>kiilhswa neewaki kiilhswa neewita …</em> – “I see the moon, the moon sees me …” - in my native language was important to me. </p>
<p>Speaking my language connects me to our ancestral homelands of what are now parts of Ohio and Indiana. And doing so strengthens my relationship with my immediate family who also speak the language, and allows me to communicate in a way that is unique to my culture. My language may not be practical in holding a mainstream job or getting around in the world, but it is important to my identity as a Myaamia person. I feel grounded when I can speak my language with other members of my family and community.</p>
<p>The Myaamia Center’s Nipwaayoni Acquisition and Assessment Team has evaluated programs since 2012 and found that Myaamia students regularly comment on how important speaking their language is to their identity. </p>
<p>Jenna Corral, a Myaamia student who graduated in 2021, described her experience: “Learning our language has been one of the best ways to make me feel connected to my identity and tribal community. Being able to learn and speak the language that was developed by my ancestors was something I never thought I would do. I am forever grateful for all I have learned about my heritage and culture and the positive impact it has had on my life.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488625/original/file-20221006-18-wfbbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Miami Nation’s tribal headquarters are in Miami, Oklahoma.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Doug Peconge, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do students benefit from learning these languages?</h2>
<p>Myaamia tribal youth who participate in language and cultural revitalization programs are more engaged in tribal activities, internal assessment research shows. Participation has continually risen over the past 20 years, in part due to increased tribal enrollment encouraged by language and cultural revitalization. Engagement is increasing because people want to be involved and participate in what is happening. We have gained approximately 1,000 citizens in the last five years, boosting our enrollment to 6,780 today. This is a significant development because we view youth engagement as important to future growth of the tribal nation.</p>
<p>Myaamia students have been enrolled at Miami University since 1991. Students who attended before the creation of the Myaamia Heritage Course, which allows students to explore their Myaamia heritage, had a graduation rate of 56%. Since the addition of the course in 2003, our six-year graduation rate has increased to 92% – more than double the <a href="https://pnpi.org/native-american-students/#:%7E:text=Completion%20rates%20for%20Native%20American,to%2063%25%20for%20all%20students.">national six-year graduation rate of 41% for Native Americans</a> – and 106 Myaamia students have earned degrees from Miami University. </p>
<p>We believe growth of tribal programs developed by the tribe’s Cultural Resources Office, the creation of the Myaamia Center and further development of the heritage program are at the core of what has driven this <a href="https://miamioh.edu/myaamia-center/_files/documents/assessment-briefs/assessment-brief-2-academic-attainment-revised-508.pdf">dramatic increase in our graduation rate</a>.</p>
<h2>How will these languages be preserved going forward?</h2>
<p>Just as the boarding school era was designed to remove language and culture, our tribal efforts can put back what was taken.</p>
<p>But these efforts require financial resources. Some people feel that the federal government holds a degree of financial responsibility in the revitalization of these languages. This is because <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.21-22/indigenous-affairs-the-u-s-has-spent-more-money-erasing-native-languages-than-saving-them">significant federal funding</a> was used historically to eradicate these languages. The federal government spent <a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.21-22/indigenous-affairs-the-u-s-has-spent-more-money-erasing-native-languages-than-saving-them">US$2.81 billion</a> – adjusted for inflation – to support the nation’s Indian boarding schools, but only a fraction of that amount for Indigenous language revitalization today. </p>
<p>Partnerships between tribes and universities can be powerful in building a response to inequalities that have emerged through our recent history. Yes, language is an important part of what we do, but in the end it’s about knowledge, who holds that knowledge and how it’s expressed through our unique language and culture. Our partnership with Miami University is one such model.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Wade Baldwin is the Executive Director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University. He receives funding from Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Miami University, Mellon Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He currently serves on the National Council on the Humanities and is a board member of the Endangered Languages Fund. </span></em></p>Indigenous people’s languages were largely lost as a result of forced assimilation efforts in the U.S. Here’s why one tribal leader says the languages should be brought back.Daryl Wade Baldwin, Executive Director, Myaamia Center, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1883832022-08-29T13:12:18Z2022-08-29T13:12:18ZCOVID was a setback for indigenous languages: South African lecturers on what went wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479902/original/file-20220818-23-q0r83i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">By some estimates only 5% of the world’s languages are likely to survive online. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PeopleImages / Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African indigenous languages are among those at risk of a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0077056">serious decline</a> due to the increasing use of digital technologies. By some estimates only <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0077056">5%</a> of the world’s languages are likely to survive online. </p>
<p>As hubs of knowledge generation, South African universities have an essential role in ensuring this does not happen. When democracy came to South Africa in 1994, multilingualism was seen as imperative to ensure that all of the country’s 11 official languages were esteemed and promoted. Universities could play their part by using indigenous languages in high status functions: teaching, learning and research. </p>
<p>Despite the numerous legislative policy documents and <a href="http://www.dac.gov.za/sites/default/files/LPD_Language%20Policy%20Framework_English_0.pdf">frameworks</a>, in <a href="https://www.usaf.ac.za/the-state-of-language-policies-at-public-institutions/">practice</a> the use of indigenous African languages in South African universities falls far short of where it should be. The adoption of remote (online) education during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 may have widened the chasm further. That’s because English dominates in online engagements in this <a href="https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/social-media-stats-south-africa">context</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-academics-can-manage-covid-19-shutdowns-133947">online teaching</a> employed by universities during the pandemic was conducted almost exclusively in English. If this continues, it could derail the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africas-universities-are-making-more-students-multilingual-116638">work done so far</a> in “intellectualising” indigenous languages – that is, developing them for use in high status contexts like education. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14790718.2022.2074012">recent paper</a> I drew on the reflections of seven lecturers from seven South African universities on the challenges of trying to teach online in more than one language. I looked at the implications for developing historically marginalised languages, as called for by the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202011/43860gon1160.pdf">Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions</a>. </p>
<p>What the lecturers told me suggests that if multiple indigenous languages aren’t used in higher education, their speakers could face even greater <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-pandemic-is-hurting-university-students-mental-health-159643">exclusion</a> in universities. It will also set back the advances made in raising the status of these languages.</p>
<h2>Reflections from lecturers</h2>
<p>The lecturers were teaching in fields like politics, history and education. Some were at traditional universities and others at universities of technology.</p>
<p>Their experience was that it was challenging to teach multilingually during emergency remote teaching. The challenges were in three categories: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>shifts from in-person to on-screen interactions </p></li>
<li><p>shifts in the types of resources used to teach multilingually </p></li>
<li><p>shifts from approaches that intellectualise indigenous languages to approaches that are focused on delivery.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Their view was that their experiences during COVID did not bode well for the intellectualisation of indigenous South African languages.</p>
<p>One participant was worried that multilingualism would become no more than a mechanical translation from one language into another. While the <a href="https://theconversation.com/simple-vernacular-translations-make-the-most-sense-for-university-students-48599">translation of resources</a> is an important part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bilingual-education-can-work-in-south-african-schools-heres-how-186780">multilingual education</a>, it is just the start. What must then follow is teaching students how to use indigenous language to come up with new ways of thinking about their disciplines, drawing on the indigenous knowledge systems that the languages are rooted in. </p>
<p>The participant went on to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our students need vibrant, living multilingualism that demonstrates that intellectual work is not singularly about English. And that your professors are not English speakers. They are also Xhosa, and they have Afrikaans, and they have slang, and they have Zulu, and they have high language, and they have street language … there is a cross-set of all our multilingual capability to convey the intellectual project.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Under the conditions of emergency remote learning, lecturers were under pressure simply to deliver the content of courses. This was true even for lecturers who wanted to use multilingual pedagogies. They were mindful of the need for multilingualism in higher education in South Africa. But the <a href="https://theconversation.com/delivering-education-online-coronavirus-underscores-whats-missing-in-africa-134914">conditions</a> under which they were teaching were such a hindrance that they defaulted to translation of resources like notes and slides.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…this has not been a huge success in that our sense is that students are just not reading. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The academics Rosalie Finlayson and Mbulungeni Madiba have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14664200208668036">argued</a> that effective intellectualisation is what will see indigenous languages </p>
<blockquote>
<p>developed, within the shortest possible time, to a point where they can express concepts that already exist in languages such as English and Afrikaans. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>For this to happen, the focus must be on capturing African languages in written form to develop lexicon and grammar. This was a challenge during COVID because some web-based learner management systems don’t support texts written in African languages. They don’t have the special characters that a student should use in an exam to show what they know. So it’s difficult to assess the candidate. </p>
<p>Indigenous language teaching resources, such as journal articles and textbooks, are scarce too. So lecturers had few resources to draw on when attempting to move their courses online. And the technology did not allow lecturers to write easily online as they would on a board:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a language teacher, you are bound to write because when students don’t understand what you are trying to teach, you have to put what you are uttering orally into writing for their full grasp. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Adapting systems for local use</h2>
<p>In 2014, South African <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14790718.2020.1717496">scholars called for</a> the localisation of learner management systems to promote teaching. </p>
<p>Localising a learner management system entails adopting and modifying digital information and computer user interfaces into local languages, cultures, values and beliefs. </p>
<p>It is costly and requires institutions to collaborate. But researchers have been highlighting how important it is for raising the status of indigenous languages. The fact that it hasn’t happened yet suggests it may not be a priority for universities, which are best placed to do it, or for government, which is empowered to hold them accountable if they won’t.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sisanda Nkoala receives funding from the National Research Foundation and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology</span></em></p>Multilingual teaching was a challenge under emergency remote learning conditions: computer systems weren’t adapted to indigenous languages.Sisanda Nkoala, Senior Lecturer, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1843532022-06-09T13:55:19Z2022-06-09T13:55:19ZDrama that shaped Ngũgĩ’s writing and activism comes home to Kenya<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467218/original/file-20220606-16-mg8snb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Nikki Kahn/The The Washington Post via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Kenya marked its 59th anniversary of internal self-rule on 1 June 2022, a controversial play by the nation’s foremost author, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, was <a href="https://nation.africa/kenya/news/return-of-ngugi-s-ngaahika-ndeenda-and-how-us-abandoned-playwright-3815914">staged</a> in sold-out shows. It had been 45 years since it was banned and the author <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40759669">detained</a>. The performance offers a useful filter to illuminate how the nation has fared in recent years. </p>
<p>Democracy is gradually <a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-is-taking-root-in-africa-but-that-doesnt-mean-it-works-all-the-time-78273">taking root</a>, but corruption is still <a href="https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/van_rij_corruption_kenya_septembre2021_okac_en.pdf">rife</a>. This makes Kenya’s largely youthful population restive.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, Ngaahika Ndeenda (<a href="https://ngugiwathiongo.com/i-will-marry-when-i-want/">I Will Marry When I Want</a>) is the most consequential piece of writing by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and his collaborator, the late Ngũgĩ wa Mirii. The drama tells the story of Kiguunda, a peasant whose tiny strip of earth is being targeted by Ahab Kioi, a local tycoon who represents international financial interests.</p>
<p>Using multiple story threads, the play captures the tempestuous romance between Kiguunda’s daughter and Kioi’s son, which results in an unwanted pregnancy and a bleak future. Kiguunda’s delusion of a white wedding as social leverage leads to nothing but mockery and dispossession.</p>
<p>Within months of its writing and subsequent staging, in late 1977, Ngũgĩ was detained without trial. Under Kenya’s old constitution, which was replaced by a <a href="https://law.strathmore.edu/the-constitution-of-kenya-2010-panacea-or-nostrum/">more progressive one in 2010</a>, it was lawful for the president to detain anyone without trial. Although the reason for Ngũgĩ’s detention has never been given, he told me recently its timing affirmed he had been targeted for writing in his indigenous language, Gikuyu:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I thought: Wait a minute, I have been writing in English over the years and nobody ever bothered with me. I write one play in Gikuyu and I’m detained, so I’m going to write in Gikuyu…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ngũgĩ <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40759669">spent a year</a> at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. His detention helped shine a light on Kenya’s human rights record. It also shaped his life in writing and political activism. </p>
<p>Released in 1978, after the death of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, Ngũgĩ was denied the right to return to his old job at the University of Nairobi. He went into exile in 1982. Although the rest of his books were not banned, they were not taught in Kenyan schools for the next two decades. </p>
<p>In a sense, Ngaahika Ndeenda was both a point of departure and a point of return. </p>
<h2>From activism to exile</h2>
<p>In 1967, Ngũgĩ recorded in <a href="https://ngugiwathiongo.com/decolonising-the-mind/">Decolonising the Mind</a> how colonial power structures reproduce through education and the imposition of European languages and literature in Africa:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After I had written <a href="https://ngugiwathiongo.com/a-grain-of-wheat/">A Grain of Wheat</a> I underwent a crisis. I knew whom I was writing about but whom was I writing for … In an interview in 1967 with Union News, a student newspaper in Leeds University, I said: ‘I have reached a point of crisis. I don’t know whether it is worth any longer writing in English.‘</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 1977, Ngũgĩ returned to his village in Limuru, just outside Nairobi, and mobilised the community to build a makeshift community theatre. This was to protest their denied access to the Kenya National Theatre.</p>
<p>He and Mirii scripted a play they thought reflected the realities that confronted ordinary villagers and factory workers in Limuru, subsisting on the verge of destitution. The actors, too, were ordinary workers and peasants from Limuru.</p>
<p>In a recent conversation, Ngũgĩ reflected on this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I still believe in the power of ordinary peasants in narrating their experience. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The open-air theatre in Kamiriithu was razed by the government. Ngũgĩ was detained. His co-author, Mirii, fled to Zimbabwe, as did the play’s director, Kimani Gecau.</p>
<p>In detention, Ngũgĩ produced the allegorical <a href="https://www.mathaga.com/products/caitani-mutharabaini-by-ngugi-wa-thiongo">Caitani Mutharaba-ini</a> (<a href="https://ngugiwathiongo.com/devil-on-the-cross/">Devil on the Cross</a>), which he wrote on toilet paper in Kamiti, alongside the prison memoir <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Detained.html?id=yhByAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">Detained</a>. It was while promoting these two texts in London, in July 1982, that Ngũgĩ received a coded message warning him he’d receive “red carpet treatment” upon his return.</p>
<p>He returned to Kenya only in July 2004, after multiparty democracy had been restored. Although he was mobbed by hordes of ordinary Kenyans at the airport, his return had a tinge of tragedy. He was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3569480.stm">brutally attacked and his wife raped</a>.</p>
<p>The return of Ngaahika Ndeenda to Kenyan theatres re-introduces the work to generations of Kenyans who were not yet born before the play’s initial release and subsequent exile of the author. It also marks the evolution of the nation’s artistic freedom arena. </p>
<p>“(Jomo) Kenyatta put me in a maximum security prison. Moi drove me into exile. Uhuru (Kenyatta) received me at the State House,” Ngugi says, recalling the 2014 visit when he was hosted by Kenya’s current president.</p>
<p>While Kenyatta’s hosting of a former dissident is a powerful visual of reform and expanding democratic space, the social ills that Ngũgĩ highlighted 45 years ago still fester.</p>
<h2>Stranger than fiction</h2>
<p>The core themes in Ngaahika Ndeenda – social inequities and justice – have universal appeal. Nairobi’s youthful population turned up to watch the new production, as did the urban expatriate community. But there were also enthusiasts bussed in from distant rural locations. They had no tickets, which had to be purchased in advance, online. </p>
<p>Ngahiika Ndeenda is prescient in its vision of a land riven with class strife, greed and avarice.</p>
<p>Ngũgĩ is now polishing a Gikuyu version of his first novel, The River Between, now titled Rui Rwa Muoyo (or The River of Life). He calls the process “restoration”: returning to African languages narratives that have been domiciled in European-language granaries. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Young people need to know it is possible to write and perform in African languages. They need to be reminded of that possibility.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Kimani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Banned 45 years ago, and its author detained, the Gikuyu language play Ngaahika Ndeenda profoundly shaped the literary legend.Peter Kimani, Professor of Practice, Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1823202022-05-05T13:47:15Z2022-05-05T13:47:15ZBill 96 will harm Indigenous people in Québec. We need more equitable language laws<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461349/original/file-20220504-15-euyt2q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3487%2C2375&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Québec Premier François Legault defended Bill 96 saying he doesn't want the province to become Louisiana.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/bill-96-will-harm-indigenous-people-in-quebec--we-need-more-equitable-language-laws" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>One of the reasons I moved to Québec in 2015 was because of the <em>mélange</em> of languages in which many Quebecers — <a href="https://languagescompany.com/wp-content/uploads/14_1228-LUCIDE-Montreal-Report-V8_HRONLINE.pdf">especially in Montréal</a> — live and work. Some are able to change languages from sentence to sentence; others will switch in the middle of sentences or speak in an ever-changing <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/vc-rv/index.cfm?Lang=ENG&VIEW=D&GEOCODE=24&TOPIC_ID=4">medley of languages</a>.</p>
<p>The language dance happens most frequently between French and English, but other languages can be involved — such as Indigenous and immigrant languages. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/quebecs-bill-40-further-undermines-the-provinces-english-language-school-system-131595">Québec's Bill 40 further undermines the province's English-language school system</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The reality of multilingualism goes very far back in Québec: the perceived founder of French Québec, Samuel de Champlain, even knew “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/49790/champlains-dream-by-david-hackett-fischer/9780307397676">a smattering of [Indigenous] languages, not enough to speak directly on sensitive questions. Most of his communications had to happen through interpreters</a>.” However the mythic view of historical dominance held by some Quebecers is that “<a href="https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2022/01/04/a-propos-du-respect-de-notre-langue"><em>la langue française […] s’est implantée officiellement au Québec avec Samuel de Champlain en 1608</em></a>” or, the French language was officially established in Québec with Samuel de Champlain in 1608.</p>
<p>As the leader of a tiny, vulnerable French outpost, Champlain probably thought more about making alliances with Indigenous nations, which would allow the French colonists to survive, than he did about official languages. </p>
<p>Indigenous nations, and languages, have endured — as have the descendants of the original French settlers (including me), joined by British settlers and a mix of immigrants from all over the world, to create a diverse and complex society.</p>
<p>And all of this contributes to why Bill 96 is so problematic. The <a href="http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-96-42-1.html">proposed bill</a>, “An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec,” will reduce the accessibility to health-care services in English, which will <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/first-nations-leaders-call-bill-96-cultural-genocide">drastically and negatively impact Indigenous people</a>. As a researcher and teacher of Inuit health, I find this deeply troubling.</p>
<h2>Indigenous experience in Québec</h2>
<p>Part of Québec’s complexity is ensuring equity for all its citizens. For Indigenous people in the province, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01500-8">equitable treatment can seem fleeting</a>. </p>
<p>In the health-care system, systemic discrimination against Indigenous people has been formally recognized. In 2019, the Québec-mandated Viens Commission concluded that “<a href="https://www.cerp.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/Fichiers_clients/Rapport/Final_report.pdf">it is clear that prejudice toward Indigenous Peoples remains widespread in the interaction between caregivers and patients</a>,” and recommended “cultural safeguard principles” be incorporated into health services and programs for Indigenous people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters walk wearing ribbon skirts, holding signs that read 'Justice pour Joyce'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461325/original/file-20220504-27-me06yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of people take part in a rally in support of Joyce Echaquan in Trois-Rivières, Que., in June, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In October 2021, coroner Géhane Kamel’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/joyce-echaquan-systemic-racism-quebec-government-1.6196038">top recommendation</a> in her report on the death of Joyce Echaquan was that the province needs to recognize that systemic racism exists and take concrete action to eliminate it. </p>
<p>To receive health care in a language that you speak is obviously a dimension of cultural safety. So it’s all the more disappointing that a recently released plan to reform the Québec health-care system <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-quebec-health-care-plan-fails-to-respond-to-indigenous-concerns">ignores systemic discrimination and cultural safety for patients</a>.</p>
<h2>The problem with Bill 96</h2>
<p>In an analysis of Bill 96, Montréal lawyer and advocate Eric Maldoff <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-its-essential-to-exempt-health-and-social-services-from-bill-96">says</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Even when the staff and institutions have the option to use another language, Bill 96 strongly directs them to avoid exercising it and specifies that a language other than French should not be used systematically, such as by establishing translation services. There is an option to use a language other than French in case of health, public safety and natural justice. However, it seems aimed at dealing with a health emergency of an individual.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nunavik Inuit in northern Québec have been identifying challenges within the health-care system for years. A report prepared by <a href="https://nrbhss.ca/sites/default/files/health_surveys/The_IQI_Model_of_Health_and_Well-Being_report_en.pdf">the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services</a> says: “Many [Inuit] do not understand medical terms and translation is sometimes inefficient, as many terms do not have an equivalent in Inuktitut. Consequently, many people struggle to understand their health problems and to follow medical advice.” </p>
<p>Ninety-eight per cent of Nunavik Inuit <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-656-x/89-656-x2016016-eng.htm">speak Inuktitut as their first language</a>. This should be celebrated, not hindered during the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/idil2022-2032">Decade of Indigenous Languages</a>, which Canada supports. Although many Indigenous people in Québec — including most Inuit — may have recognized rights to services in English, many, including myself, think Bill 96 will create greater impediments to accessible health care for Inuit and First Nations people. The bill will worsen health and health care, instead of improving it.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1514348290506203136"}"></div></p>
<h2>Multilingualism shouldn’t be a threat</h2>
<p>Bill 96 will also create new <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-quebecs-language-requirements-put-first-nations-students-at-a-disadvantage">challenges in education for Inuit and First Nations people</a> who use English. </p>
<p>Indigenous students will now have to complete an additional three French-language courses <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-rolls-back-proposal-forcing-english-cegep-students-into-three-french-language-classes-1.5877572">to receive a CÉGEP diploma</a> (typically required for university admission). In practice, most Inuit, and about half of First Nations students have been predominantly educated in English and will struggle with an additional French requirements.</p>
<p>Québec Premier François Legault recently <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/new-political-parties-would-turn-quebec-into-a-new-louisiana-legault">defended the draft Bill 96 by saying</a>: “If Québec is bilingual, unfortunately the attraction in North America to English will be so strong it will be a matter of time before we don’t speak French in Québec and we become Louisiana.”</p>
<p>Turning into Louisiana is a commonly deployed bogeyman in Québec, to imply that without restrictive measures on the use of other languages, French is endangered.</p>
<p>For most Québec residents, there is broad consensus that French should be protected. But many of us believe that multilingualism — including Indigenous languages — need not threaten French.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a story originally published on May 5, 2022. It clarifies that many Indigenous people in Québec have recognized rights to services in English.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Budgell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For most Québec residents, there is broad consensus that French should be protected. But many of us believe that multilingualism need not threaten French.Richard Budgell, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine; Ph.D. student, History and Classical Studies, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1795282022-03-30T14:44:33Z2022-03-30T14:44:33ZNational Indigenous Languages Day: Keeping languages thriving for generations to come<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454787/original/file-20220328-19-nlsp7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3857%2C2575&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A stop sign in English, French and Inuktitut, in Iqaluit, Nunavut.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/national-indigenous-languages-day--keeping-languages-thriving-for-generations-to-come" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Indigenous languages are currently <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm">in crisis</a> and Elders and language keepers are working tirelessly to document, teach and <a href="https://enowkincentre.ca/programs-nsyilxcen.html">develop resources</a> for generations to come. </p>
<p>But this is difficult as there are <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-language-revitalization-in-canada">fewer and fewer fluent language speakers in Indigenous communities</a>. Despite being tasked with keeping languages alive, many Elders, language keepers and community members are continuing to heal from the <a href="https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/">impact of residential schools</a> and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/10813890/Strategies_for_Indigenous_language_revitalization_and_maintenance">intergenerational trauma caused by</a> genocide, colonialism, linguistic imperialism, new diseases, forced relocation, upset of Indigenous economic, social and political systems.</p>
<p>Numerous studies document the <a href="https://web.uvic.ca/psyc/lalonde/manuscripts/2008HealingTraditions.pdf">negative and lasting impacts</a> of residential schools, including loss of language and culture that led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2016-207380">devastating effects on mental health</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.07.014">substance abuse</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.01.026">and suicide</a> among community members. </p>
<p>In an effort to reverse that loss of language and culture and keep <a href="http://www.ecdip.org/docs/pdf/Language%20Revitalization%20&%20Maintenance%20MCIVOR-CLLRNET.pdf">Indigenous languages alive and thriving</a>, there’s a push to ensure they’re spoken in homes, schools, communities and workplaces. The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/first-person-rochelle-bragg-reclaiming-language-1.6371587">impact of being surrounded by Indigenous languages</a> can be life changing. </p>
<h2>Immersion to teacher training</h2>
<p>There are many approaches being used in <a href="https://www.bluequills.ca/bachelors/">Indigenous communities</a>, at <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/canadian-indigenous-languages-and-literacy-development-institute/index.html">universities</a> and within <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/culture/canadian-identity-society/languages/indigenous.html">federal</a> and <a href="https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/en/services/le-secretariat-de-leducation-et-des-langues-autochtones/languages-overview">provincial governments</a> to ensure language reclamation. Examples include <a href="https://www.socialconnectedness.org/the-power-of-immersion-and-bilingual-schools-for-indigenous-language-revitalization/">immersion</a> to curriculum and resource development, teacher training, evaluation and research.</p>
<p>On March 31, Canada marks <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2021/03/joint-statement-by-ministers-guilbeault-bennett-miller-and-vandal-on-national-indigenous-languages-day.html">National Indigenous Languages Day</a>, which serves as an opportunity for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples to create space and recognize the importance of language revitalization. </p>
<p>National Indigenous Languages Day allows us to celebrate the ongoing efforts of those who continue to protect, <a href="https://www.tsuutinagunahainstitute.com/">educate and preserve</a> Indigenous languages and uplift the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-7.85/page-1.html">Indigenous Languages Act</a>.</p>
<p>The United Nations recently launched a <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/upcoming-decade-indigenous-languages-2022-2032-focus-indigenous-language-users-human-rights">Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-32</a>, which details the complex nature of language revitalization and the notion that this work will take time and require collective effort, respectful relationships and authentic partnerships.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1508067060127092743"}"></div></p>
<h2>Supporting community</h2>
<p>My grandparents on my mother’s side attended Spanish Indian Residential School in Ontario, so I am well aware of language loss — in my family, unfortunately, no one speaks our language. This reality is heartbreaking and I hope that my late grandmother, Mary Neyland, her siblings and her friends would be proud of this work being done today. </p>
<p>It is my responsibility as a mother and my motivation as a Anishinaabe woman to make change. My role is to listen to our Elders and language keepers and find strategies to support communities, with them as the lead, and in a respectful way.</p>
<p>At the University of Alberta, the <a href="https://silr.ca/">Supporting Indigenous Language Revitalization</a> initiative is focused on supporting community-led projects and building capacity in language. Our aim is to establish respectful relationships, share information and direct resources to Indigenous communities and organizations engaging in language revitalization activities. </p>
<p>A central aspect of the initiative is following the guidance of the <a href="https://silr.ca/about/steering-committee-advisors/">Indigenous Advisory Council</a>, which includes language keepers and Elders who are recognized in their communities. We recognize equity in languages and include Cree (Y Dialect and Bushland Cree), Michif, Blackfoot, Dene (Denesųłiné and Dene Tha), Inuk (Inuktitut) and Stoney languages among the council.</p>
<p>We recently <a href="https://silr.ca/2022/03/14/supporting-indigenous-language-revitalization-silr-workshop-february-24-2022/">hosted an event where</a> Rae Anne Claxton, a PhD student from Tsawout First Nation on Vancouver Island, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/hul-q-umi-num-language-house-vancouver-island-1.5335986">shared her journey</a> to learn Hul’q’umi’num’ from her Elders. </p>
<p>She spoke about centring and weaving Indigenous ways of being, learning and teaching with linguistic ideology and technology. And how stories from Elders are significant in healing from the impact of intergenerational trauma and reclaiming our Indigenous identities.</p>
<p>Claxton highlighted the interconnectedness of language and culture, as many have highlighted before her. American <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Stabilizing_Indigenous_Languages.html?id=aytBYAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">linguist Joshua Fishman described it as such</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you take language away from a culture, you take away its greetings, its curses, its praises, its laws, its literature, its songs, its riddles, its proverbs, its cures, its wisdom, its prayers … you are losing all those things that essentially are the way of life, the way of thought, the way of valuing, and the human reality that you are talking about.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Indigenous language revitalization</h2>
<p>Across Canada, <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm">progress is being made with regards to Indigenous language revitalization</a> and maintenance efforts, in response to the <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<p>Many Indigenous communities are implementing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dakelh-indigenous-language-standard-syllabics-1.6392552">important language reclamation and revitalization initiatives</a>. The <a href="https://fpcc.ca/">First Peoples Cultural Council</a> is a great example of an organization that provides not only funding, but continued support to communities in British Columbia for community-led language revitalization initiatives. Or there’s the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/canadian-indigenous-languages-and-literacy-development-institute/about/index.html">Canadian Indigenous Language and Literacy Institute</a>, which hosts annual summer programming that teaches about the diversity and geography of languages.</p>
<p>CBC also hosts <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/originalvoices/">Original Voices</a>, a hub for Indigenous language content, and currently features over 30 Indigenous languages from across Canada.</p>
<p>This National Indigenous Languages Day, let’s celebrate the community-led initiatives that focus on building capacity and sustainability for future generations. Here are just some of the resources currently available:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tsuutina/id858994984">Tsuut’ina Gunaha (Tsuut'ina)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=piikani.paitapiiyssin&hl=en_CA&gl=US">Piikani Paitapiiyssin (Blackfoot)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.languagepal.blackfootoldsunandroid">Siksika (Blackfoot)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theappfactory.Ninastako&hl=en_CA">Ninastako Cultural Centre (Blackfoot)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=en&id=ca.muskwa.atclanguageapp">Athabasca Tribal Council (Cree)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=en&id=ca.muskwa.atcdeneapp">Athabasca Tribal Council (Dene)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/denes%C5%B3%C5%82%C4%AFn%C3%A9/id926021611">Cold Lake First Nations (Denesųłiné)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/maskwacis-cree/id804404251">Samson Cree Nation (Maskwacis Cree)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/michif-lessons/id965897763">Michif</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/stoney-language-dictionary/id1450212089">Stoney Language Dictionary</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.languagepal.stoneyandroid&hl=en_CA">Stoney Nakoda</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.languagepal.ktceaandroid&hl=en">KTCEA Elders Speak</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.languagepal.mohawkandroid&hl=en_CA&gl=US">Speak Mohawk</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/lnuisuti/id918629700">L'nui'suti</a></li>
<li><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/makittagait/id1049424499">Makittagait (Inuktitut)</a></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>University of Alberta receives funding from BHP Foundation. </span></em></p>This National Indigenous Languages Day, let’s celebrate the community-led initiatives that focus on building capacity and sustainability for future generations.Pamela McCoy Jones, Executive Director, Supporting Indigenous Language Revitalization, Office of the Vice-Provost - Indigenous Programming and Research, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777012022-03-09T13:28:09Z2022-03-09T13:28:09ZCanada must accommodate Indigenous and minority languages to be truly multicultural<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448561/original/file-20220225-21-1volwta.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3932%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mary Simon, Canada's first Inuit governor-general and a native Inuktitut speaker, inspects the honour guard as she arrives at Rideau Hall in July 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The time has come for Canada to revisit its approach to languages. With <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/indigenous-languages-decade-make-inuktitut-an-official-in-canada-inuit-un-rep-1.6311525">recent calls from top Inuit figures to make Inuktitut an official language of Canada</a> alongside English and French, and an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nti-suing-government-of-nunavut-inuktut-education-1.6209460">earlier lawsuit over the right for students to be educated in Inuktitut in Nunavut</a>, there is no better time for this conversation.</p>
<p>This year is a good time to starting a nationwide discussion because it’s the inaugural year of the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/idil2022-2032">International Decade of Indigenous Languages</a>, the 30th anniversary year of the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/minorities.aspx">UN Declaration on Minorities</a> and the 40th anniversary year of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a> </p>
<p>These anniversaries are of special relevance because languages are a matter of fundamental human rights.</p>
<h2>How multicultural are we?</h2>
<p>Canada is renowned for its multiculturalism. Yet a still unsettled issue in Canadian multiculturalism pertains to languages. As a human rights researcher, I believe multiculturalism isn’t truly possible without multilingualism. </p>
<p>Language is the foundational dimension of most cultures, and therefore the maintenance, development and use of a culture’s language is indispensable for its preservation and practice.</p>
<p>Canada’s historical oppression of Indigenous Peoples directly concerns languages. The residential schools system <a href="https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/11-2-indigenous-languages-and-the-legacy-of-residential-schools/">specifically targeted Indigenous cultures and languages</a> to such an extent that many argue it constituted genocide, especially after the mass graves of Indigenous children were discovered. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-canada-committed-genocide-against-indigenous-peoples-explained-by-the-lawyer-central-to-the-determination-162582">How Canada committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples, explained by the lawyer central to the determination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as Indigenous leaders and activists, <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">explicitly state</a> that reconciliation and rebuilding in Canada cannot happen without the revival and reaffirmation of Indigenous languages.</p>
<p>Historically, the issue of languages was a matter of colonialism and dominance in Canada. Making English and French the country’s official languages was <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/canadians-official-languages-act/history-official-languages-act.html">an administrative decision by the ruling colonial powers of the time</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two children watch and engage with one another as two other children dance in front of them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C58%2C3000%2C2137&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448538/original/file-20220225-13-33nev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grade 3 pupils watch classmates rehearse a traditional Inuktitut dance in Iqaluit, Nunavut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This decision was taken without due consideration to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples or other settler minority groups — speakers of German, Ukrainian, Italian, Punjabi and many other languages. </p>
<p>Canadian bilingualism was formalized first <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/official-languages-act-1969">in 1969</a>, and later in the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html">1982 Charter of Rights and Freedom</a>, and accommodated the English-speaking majority and French-speaking minority. But it <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2018001-eng.htm">left aside speakers of multiple Indigenous and other languages</a>.</p>
<p>In a human rights-based country, linguistic issues cannot be resolved simply because majority groups out-vote minority groups. Linguistic rights are human rights and apply to majorities and minorities alike, and not at the discretion of those who hold the power.</p>
<h2>Minority rights to language</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx">1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>, a foundational human rights document of modern times, states that people who belong to linguistic minorities are guaranteed the right to enjoy their own culture and use their own language.</p>
<p>This is a binding legal provision for every country that’s ratified the treaty, including Canada.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/minorities.aspx">1992 United Nations Declaration on Minorities</a> states that countries must protect the existence and the linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage the promotion of that identity by adopting laws and other measures. </p>
<p>Nations are supposed to ensure that minority populations have adequate opportunities to learn their native languages, or to receive instruction in their native languages.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IPeoples/Pages/Declaration.aspx">UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> passed into law in Canada through Bill C-15 also states that Indigenous Peoples are guaranteed the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit their languages to future generations.</p>
<p>It states that countries should provide Indigenous Peoples, particularly children and including those living outside their communities, with education in their own language.</p>
<p>Other applicable international standards come from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). <a href="https://www.osce.org/hcnm/thematic-recommendations-and-guidelines">These standards</a> direct institutionalized use of minority languages in justice, education, elections, policing, mass media and other areas of public life.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a hat and jacket walks past a stop sign displayed in both English and Inuktitut." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/448568/original/file-20220225-25-10d1uro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman walks past a stop sign displayed in both English and Inuktitut in Iqaluit, Nunavut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A matter of human rights</h2>
<p>It’s clear that international standards explicitly demand that minority languages be used and institutionalized in virtually all spheres of life. These standards clearly indicate that the institutionalized use of minority and Indigenous languages is not a matter of politics or choice, but a matter of imperative human rights.</p>
<p>Promotion of linguistic diversity isn’t just an international obligation. It’s key to many vital Canadian challenges, including reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, overcoming systemic racism and colonialism, ongoing health-care crises and the accommodation and inclusion of migrants and refugees.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-bilingualism-change-in-canada-the-debate-over-gov-gen-mary-simon-164836">Should bilingualism change in Canada? The debate over Gov. Gen. Mary Simon</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Canadian institutionalized multilingualism will advance the national economy, will make Canada more competitive on international markets and will bolster its reputation as a global human rights champion and a progressive immigration model.</p>
<p>In addition, it will transform Canada into a truly multiculturalist state.</p>
<p>This year is a perfect time for a broad public discussion about the use and status of languages in Canada. Human rights should inform and guide this discussion. The demand for revitalizing Indigenous languages, the compelling calls from Inuktitut champions and the appointment of our Inuktitut-speaking governor general create an excellent starting point for this nationwide endeavour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177701/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Veaceslav Balan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Linguistic rights are human rights that apply to majorities and minorities alike, not just at the discretion of those who hold power.Veaceslav Balan, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1667182021-09-02T21:50:37Z2021-09-02T21:50:37ZDNA analysis of grizzly bears aligns with Indigenous languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418867/original/file-20210901-21-gj2zo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C17%2C1911%2C1060&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research reveals a connection between Indigenous languages, bears and their terrain.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Michelle Valberg)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Along the central coast of what is now known as British Columbia, Gitga’at, Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk), Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, and Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nations are monitoring and managing wildlife populations, continuing a legacy of stewardship of this landscape since time immemorial. Stewardship often represents an extension of <a href="https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/186161">long-term relationships</a> with ecosystems and animals, including iconic species like mountain goats, salmon and grizzly bears. </p>
<p>A long-term bear monitoring collaboration between five central coast First Nations, the <a href="https://www.raincoast.org/">Raincoast Conservation Foundation</a> and the University of Victoria has described a new connection in the long-known relationship between <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12443-260307">people, bears and the land</a>. </p>
<p>On the central coast, genetic analyses have identified three genetic groups of grizzly bears — bears are more likely to be related to other bears within their own group than to bears in another group.</p>
<h2>Link to language</h2>
<p>Often, the presence of distinct genetic groups can mean that a landscape barrier is preventing animals from moving and mating. This research partnership tested traditional landscape features that had been found to prevent bears from freely moving in other areas, including landscape ruggedness, large waterways, snow and ice, and the presence of human settlements and infrastructure. </p>
<p>Knowing that the central coast looked very different prior to the disease and violence-mediated genocide that came with colonization, and that genetic methods can sometimes reflect longer timescales, we also incorporated archeological indicators of where people lived in the past. </p>
<p>Despite dense settlement and use of the coast by people in the past, the rugged landscape and large waterways, none of these features explained the pattern of grizzly genetic groups. However, the geographies of these three genetic groups strikingly align with those of three Indigenous language families: <a href="https://maps.fpcc.ca/languages">Tsimshian, Northern Wakashan and Salishan Nuxalk</a>.</p>
<p>This finding was not a complete surprise to Indigenous collaborators, co-authors, and communities. Bears and people have shared resources and watersheds for millennia, emphasizing the potential for both to respond to and be shaped by the landscape in similar ways. This overlap additionally suggests that the pattern of genetic grouping may be more linked to what the landscape can provide in resources than what it can limit in resistance.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gYLigXdzP_Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">William Housty of the Haíɫzaqv Integrated Resource Management Department, describes the process of capturing DNA samples from grizzly bears.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Knowledge sharing between bears and people</h2>
<p>Elders pass on stories about people watching and learning from bears as they eat many of the same things and are also omnivores. Bears and people both learn from their ancestors what to eat and where. In some places, bears stay close to the home range and territory of their mothers just as Indigenous families traditionally have rights to manage a specific part of a river or watershed. These familial links to territories and sharing of knowledge suggest not only a parallel in resource use, but also a cultural equivalency between bears and people. </p>
<p>These findings also have management implications. The geographies of the three grizzly genetic groups do not spatially align with <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/wildlife/wildlife-conservation/grizzly-bear">how grizzlies are currently managed by the provincial government</a>. One genetic group is split in half by a current management boundary, meaning that that two halves of the same group could be managed differently. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/respect-for-indigenous-knowledge-must-lead-nature-conservation-efforts-in-canada-156273">Respect for Indigenous knowledge must lead nature conservation efforts in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Incorporating genetic evidence into management plans can provide important information about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2012.05.012">population health and the ability of groups of animals to adapt to changes or stressors in their environment</a>. </p>
<p>The findings of genetic grouping despite traditional barriers to mating, and the striking overlap between groups and Indigenous language families highlights the close relationship between bears and people. This overlap also emphasizes the need for local and Indigenous-led monitoring and management of grizzlies.</p>
<h2>Traditional knowledge and conservation</h2>
<p>Central coast First Nations are effectively <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06668-190270">pairing local and traditional ecological knowledge with western science to change policy</a>. </p>
<p>While this study focused primarily on grizzly bears, Indigenous-led stewardship considers the whole ecosystem, with the collaborative bear monitoring group also focusing on salmon as a species inextricably linked to people and bears. </p>
<p>One of the primary goals of this long-term monitoring collaboration is to ensure that salmon populations are healthy and there is always <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.10171">enough fish for bears and people</a>. The work described here represents a small piece of a long history and future of Indigenous stewardship of important species and places, and the relationships among them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren H. Henson receives funding from MITACS, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, and Genome BC and is a research fellow for Raincoast Conservation Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Walkus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Genetic analysis of grizzly bear populations in British Columbia has revealed a connection in how bear and human cultures may have responded to the landscape.Lauren H. Henson, PhD Student, Applied Conservation Science, University of VictoriaJennifer Walkus, Council, Wuikinuxv First NationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1638092021-07-29T02:22:47Z2021-07-29T02:22:47ZHow can the new Closing the Gap dashboard highlight what indicators and targets are on track?<p>The <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/close-gap-2021">2021 Close the Gap report</a> declared the national agreement on Closing the Gap “a game changer” that sets a new standard for how governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/national-agreement">national agreement</a> was signed a year ago and put its signatories on a 12-month timetable for action.</p>
<p>Since then, the Productivity Commission has released a new <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data">dashboard</a> for reporting on the government’s progress across 17 key socioeconomic indicators and on priority reforms when the data is available. The first report based on this data has been released <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/annual-data-report">today</a>. </p>
<p>We are now at a crucial moment, with the federal, state and territory governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peaks due to hand down their implementation plans and begin the task of annually reporting on their actions.</p>
<p>So, what will the new report provide and what else do we need to ensure the national agreement lives up to its promise for improved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing?</p>
<h2>Data on expanded socioeconomic targets</h2>
<p>The minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/wyatt/2021/making-closing-gap-data-more-accessible">said</a> the dashboard will bring all the data together </p>
<blockquote>
<p>so that people can readily see the current situation and trajectories of indicators for each target, providing a level of transparency and access that we haven’t had before.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At this stage, the dashboard includes data on the <a href="https://www.closingthegap.gov.au/closing-gap-targets-and-outcomes">17 socioeconomic targets</a> outlined in the national agreement, expanding on the original seven Closing the Gap targets on life expectancy and other health issues.</p>
<p>The expanded targets, which our people had urged for years, include the wider social and cultural determinants of health, such as language, housing, child protection, family violence, social and emotional wellbeing, and land and water access and rights.</p>
<p>These targets provide a focus on critical areas of need that have been long neglected in government policy.</p>
<p>Targets 10, 11 and 12, for instance, seek to address over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the criminal justice and child protection systems. This is crucial given the failures to implement the recommendations of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/socioeconomic/outcome-area16">Outcome Area 16</a> is to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and languages are “strong, supported and flourishing.” </p>
<p>However, it appears the target only addresses languages, calling for a sustained increase in the number and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages being spoken by 2031. The dashboard reports there are 123 currently spoken, but only 14 languages considered “strong”.</p>
<p>While language is a vital component of culture, it is only one of the <a href="https://www.lowitja.org.au/page/services/resources/Cultural-and-social-determinants/culture-for-health-and-wellbeing/defining-the-indefinable-descriptors-of-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples%E2%80%99-cultures-and-their-links-to-health-and-wellbeing">cultural determinants of health</a> for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p>
<p>Therefore, there is an opportunity to further expand the data and reporting for this target to include other components of culture, such as cultural knowledge, expression and continuity, and strong kinship systems. </p>
<p>The reliability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data is also an issue. For example, the life expectancy indicator requires both census and mortality data, but the most recent census may undercount Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/3238.0.55.001%7EJune+2011%7ETechnical+Note%7EEstimated+Resident+Aboriginal+and+Torres+Strait+Islander+Population+%E2%80%93+Method+of+Calculation+%28Technical+Note%29?OpenDocument">approximately 17%</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, there is <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/improving-indigenous-identification-mortality/contents/table-of-contents">evidence</a> that misclassification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths is increasing over time, potentially inflating life expectancy and artificially closing the gap. Therefore, improving the quality of data will be beneficial to all. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-too-long-research-was-done-on-first-nations-peoples-not-with-them-universities-can-change-this-163968">For too long, research was done on First Nations peoples, not with them. Universities can change this</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aboriginal half-naked men with white stripe on his body and groin cloth strike defiant poses while kneeling on the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413224/original/file-20210727-19-1ihqv0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The continuation of cultural knowledge, expression, and strong kinship systems needs to be a priority with Closing the Gap targets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/">Claudine Van Massenhove/ Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Exploring new ways to track progress</h2>
<p>The dashboard is a positive step, but just reporting on the 17 targets alone cannot deliver the change we need.</p>
<p>It is imperative we track progress on the four priority reform areas in the national agreement. They are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>sharing decision-making through formal partnership arrangements with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations</p></li>
<li><p>building the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector</p></li>
<li><p>improving mainstream institutions and government organisations</p></li>
<li><p>sharing access to data and increasing the amount of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led data.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>These reforms provide momentum for a critical shift in the current approach to data reporting and most significantly, the way all governments and mainstream organisations work with us.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-too-long-research-was-done-on-first-nations-peoples-not-with-them-universities-can-change-this-163968">For too long, research was done on First Nations peoples, not with them. Universities can change this</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1420535770507476994"}"></div></p>
<h2>Addressing racism in these reforms</h2>
<p>According to the dashboard, data to address the indicators for each priority reform is currently under development.</p>
<p>For example, in the <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/priority/reform3">third priority reform area</a> is a target to decrease the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have experiences of racism. </p>
<p>Data will include the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “reporting experiences of racism” and those who feel “culturally safe in dealing with government, mainstream institutions and agencies”. However, this data is yet to be collected by governments, let alone reported on.</p>
<p>And significant work remains to be done across government institutions and agencies to ensure they better understand what racism is and implement strategies to prevent racism from occurring.</p>
<h2>Why stories and truth-telling also matter</h2>
<p>A recommendation from the 2021 Close the Gap report was to invest in local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data development and infrastructure to help communities collect better data and control what is done with it.</p>
<p>For the database to fully play the critical role intended, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples need to have access to and control of the data that it draws on, particularly at the local community level.</p>
<p>For us, data are not simply numbers. This data represents our story as peoples, so the numbers need to be humanised and embodied through both story-telling and truth-telling.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-families-need-support-to-stay-together-before-we-create-another-stolen-generation-159131">First Nations families need support to stay together, before we create another Stolen Generation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We can look to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/community-wellbeing-best-measured-from-the-ground-up-a-yawuru-example-64162">work</a> of Mabu Liyan by the Yawuru people who stepped away from a Western-centric view of health and, with their communities, defined what wellbeing and a good life mean to them. </p>
<p>This is an excellent example of communities filling gaps in the data and collecting information that is important to them, an approach that needs to become the rule rather than the exception.</p>
<p>The Productivity Commission’s database is a great step forward and we eagerly await further developments, knowing they will have a stronger focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language and narratives to assist in interpreting the data.</p>
<p>However, the database still relies on data from a Western-centric world view, and we are yet to see details from governments about how they plan to meet both the targets and reforms in the national agreement.</p>
<p>A comprehensive way to access data on Closing the Gap progress is helpful, but human commitment and transparency is what will achieve change. This work requires nationally reported planning, a commitment to monitoring and evaluation, and mechanisms for gathering data on actions taken and outcomes achieved.</p>
<p>Better data, including data owned by communities themselves, and better ways of working with us are the missing pieces of the puzzle. They need to be fully embraced and implemented if we are to truly have “a game changer”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janine Mohamed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Closing the Gap dashboard includes data on the 17 socioeconomic targets in the national agreement. But this information isn’t enough on its own to bring real change.Janine Mohamed, Distinguished Fellow, George Institute for Global HealthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1648362021-07-25T14:11:31Z2021-07-25T14:11:31ZShould bilingualism change in Canada? The debate over Gov. Gen. Mary Simon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412707/original/file-20210722-21-175fml0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C275%2C5551%2C3417&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mary Simon, an Inuk leader and former Canadian diplomat, has been named as Canada's next governor general — the first Indigenous person to serve in the role.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Raymond Théberge, Canada’s official languages commissioner, says his office has received more than <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/probe-launched-after-400-complaints-over-new-ggs-lack-of-french">400 complaints about the appointment of Inuk leader Mary Simon</a> as governor general. </p>
<p>The “problem” is her lack of French-English bilingualism, although she is bilingual, speaking both Inuktitut and English. </p>
<p>Canada has had an <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/official-languages-act-1969">official bilingualism policy for 50 years</a>, established to deal with a <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quiet-revolution">1960s constitutional crisis</a> regarding francophone Canadians. </p>
<p>Today a very different crisis presents itself: the reckoning of Canada’s colonial practices towards Indigenous people. The uncomfortable clash between different minority languages is coming to a head with the appointment of Simon. </p>
<p>But which languages “count” in Canada? And who gets to be the “right” kind of bilingual? </p>
<h2>Anglophones vs. francophones</h2>
<p>In the 1960s, the Canadian government was dealing with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP16CH1PA1LE.html">the Révolution Tranquille (Quiet Revolution)</a> in Québec. This period of social unrest caused the Catholic Church’s influence to decline and placed language at the forefront of Québécois identity. </p>
<p>This was after a long history of economic asymmetry in Québec. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the English made up <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/francophone-anglophone-relations">the bulk of the governing and merchant class</a>, while the French laboured for the English (for instance <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/coureurs-de-bois">as coureurs de bois</a>, or unlicensed fur traders), or <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-rural-society">lived on subsistence farms</a>. Overall, the French were more populous, but also more rural, less educated and poorer. </p>
<p>This pattern changed only slightly over the decades, coming to a head in the 1960s during the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/royal-commission-on-bilingualism-and-biculturalism">Laurendeau-Dunton Commission — also known as the Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission</a> — that revealed deep economic and social inequities between francophones and anglophones in Québec. </p>
<p>In order to raise the status of francophones in Canada, Pierre Trudeau’s government passed the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/o-3.01/page-1.html#h-384138">Official Languages Act in 1969 (revamped in 1985)</a>, giving French equal institutional status as English. </p>
<p>This set the stage for today, where most Canadians take official bilingualism as a given. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that Simon’s lack of French fluency would raise some eyebrows.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Stop sign reads STOP in english, french and Inuktitut" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412733/original/file-20210722-23-1wy47d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A stop sign in English, French and Inuktitut is seen in Iqaluit, Nunavut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bilingualism vs. Multiculturalism</h2>
<p>The Official Languages Act has always been at odds with Canada’s claims of multiculturalism. The Canadian ideal was to promote multiple cultures while promoting only two languages, or as linguist Eve Haque has called it, “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442686083">Multiculturalism within a Bilingual Framework</a>.” </p>
<p>However, given that language is usually believed to be an essential component of culture (indeed, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/language-policy">Québecers argued this</a>), this is already a tenuous policy. </p>
<p>When we establish “official” languages, we demote all other languages to “unofficial.” Equality is only for French and English, not for Cree, or Mohawk, or Inuktitut, or even German — whose speakers have always <a href="http://www.canadanewsagency.com/Sociology/1029.html">greatly outnumbered French speakers on the Prairies</a>. In fact, <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/fogs-spg/Facts-PR-Eng.cfm?TOPIC=5&LANG=Eng&GK=PR&GC=46">the 2016 census reports more than 66,000 German mother-tongue speakers in Manitoba</a>, compared to 46,000 French mother-tongue speakers.</p>
<p>Current language policy in Canada establishes a hierarchy of French and English above all other languages that underpins how we talk about everything in this country. The census reports on French and English separately, but groups all other languages together. Being bilingual only <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bilingualism">“counts” if it is French-English</a>. </p>
<p>This is why more than 400 complainants to the official languages commissioner consider Simon’s bilingualism inadequate, despite Inuktitut being <a href="https://www.clo-ocol.gc.ca/en/timeline-event/the-legislative-assembly-of-nunavut-adopts-the-official-languages-act-and-the-inuit">one of three official languages of Nunavut</a>. </p>
<p>Although most may agree that it is always desirable to speak an Indigenous language, it is <em>in addition</em> to French and English, not as a replacement.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Simon stands behind a podium in front of Canada Flags" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412732/original/file-20210722-27-1g7qsch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Simon speaks during an announcement at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., on July 6, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Indigenous language endangerment</h2>
<p>Fast forward 50 years from the Official Languages Act, and there is a different crisis afoot in Canada. </p>
<p>Today we are reckoning with decades of colonial government practices towards Indigenous people and languages. Policies such as <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/">residential schools</a> and <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/">the 60s scoop</a> were the direct cause of Indigenous language loss. </p>
<p>Removing children from their families and forcing them to learn an “official” language <a href="https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/11-2-indigenous-languages-and-the-legacy-of-residential-schools">resulted in an abrupt end of familial language transmission</a> for nearly all of the <a href="https://en.ccunesco.ca/-/media/Files/Unesco/Resources/2018/09/IndigenousLanguagesCCUNESCO.pdf">70-plus Indigenous languages spoken in this country</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action</a> include the revitalization and re-establishment of these languages. The federal government response to these recommendations led to the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-7.85/page-1.html">Indigenous Languages Act of 2019</a>. </p>
<p>Canada’s Official Languages Act states that it will “advance the equality of status and use of the English and French languages within Canadian society.” And the Indigenous Languages Act states that the “recognition and implementation of rights related to Indigenous languages are at the core of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and are fundamental to shaping the country.” </p>
<p>How can Canada reconcile the two?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-new-governor-general-mary-simon-is-poised-to-engage-in-her-most-challenging-diplomatic-mission-yet-164229">Canada's new governor general, Mary Simon, is poised to engage in her most challenging diplomatic mission yet</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While French remains a minority language in Canada, many <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/why-is-it-important-to-protect-revitalize-indigenous-languages">Indigenous languages are on the brink of extinction</a>. Inuktitut is among the Indigenous languages most spoken today as a mother tongue, and even <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuktut-nunavut-statistics-canada-1.5205870">it is declining</a>. The federal government and all Canadians have an obligation to work towards reconciliation with Indigenous people, and to implement the TRC recommendations. </p>
<p>Recognizing Indigenous languages as equal in status to French and English, and accepting Inuktitut-English bilingualism in a first Indigenous governor general, would be a good start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Rosen receives funding from The Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and Canada Research Chairs. </span></em></p>Which languages get to “count” as bilingual in Canada? And who gets to be the “right” kind of bilingual?Nicole Rosen, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Language Interactions, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1569622021-04-29T20:07:24Z2021-04-29T20:07:24ZFriday essay: my belly is angry, my throat is in love — how body parts express emotions in Indigenous languages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397458/original/file-20210428-23-1a04dwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nikki Short/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many languages in the world allude to body parts to describe emotions and feelings, as in “broken-heart”, for instance. While some have just a few expressions like this, Australian Indigenous languages tend use a lot of them, covering many parts of the body: from “flowing belly” for “feel good” to “burning throat” for “be angry” to “staggering liver” meaning “to mourn”. </p>
<p>As a linguist, I first learnt this when I worked with speakers of the <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n60">Dalabon</a>, <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n73">Rembarrnga</a>, <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n70">Kune</a>, <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n65">Kunwinjku</a> and <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/p1">Kriol</a> languages in the Top End, as they taught me their own words to describe emotions.</p>
<p>Recently, with the help of my collaborator Kitty-Jean Laginha, I have looked systematically for such expressions in dictionaries and word lists from 67 Indigenous languages across Australia. We found at least 30 distinct body parts involved in about 800 emotional expressions. </p>
<p>Where do these body-emotion associations come from? Are they specific to Australian languages, or do they occur elsewhere in the world as well? There are no straightforward answers to these questions. Some expressions seem to be specific to the Australian continent, others are more widespread. As for the origins of the body-emotion association, our study suggests several possible explanations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396188/original/file-20210421-13-txnq7m.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Distribution of emotions across the body, based on 67 Indigenous languages of Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Firstly, some body parts are involved in emotional behaviours. For instance, we turn our back on people when we are upset with them. In some Australian Indigenous languages, “turn back” can mean “hold grudge” as a result of this. </p>
<p>Secondly, some body parts are involved in our physiological responses to emotion. For instance, fear can make our heart beat faster. Indeed, in some languages “heart beats fast” can mean “be afraid”.</p>
<p>Thirdly, some body parts represent the mind. This can be a bridge to emotions linked to intellectual states, like confusion or hesitation. For instance, “have a sore ear” can mean “be confused”.</p>
<p>It is likely some body parts also end up in emotional expressions without any association in the real world. Instead, the association results from purely linguistic mechanisms (explained below). </p>
<p>Here are the body parts with the most emotional associations in the Australian Indigenous languages we surveyed. We cannot possibly do justice to the wealth of creative associations found in these languages, but readers who would like to know more can take a look at <a href="https://www.emotionlanguageaustralia.com/">the website we have created</a> explaining how this body-emotion association works.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-of-australias-indigenous-languages-and-how-we-can-help-people-speak-them-more-often-109662">The state of Australia's Indigenous languages – and how we can help people speak them more often</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The head: intelligence and social awareness</h2>
<p>In many languages, the head represents the mind and intelligence. This is the case in some Australian Indigenous languages too. For instance, speakers of <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n60">Dalabon</a>, in Arnhem Land, use expressions meaning “head covered” for “forget”.</p>
<p>The head has strong associations with shame because the mind is connected to social awareness. In many Australian groups, the notion of “shame” includes respect, which results from an understanding of social structures. Accordingly, many Australian languages, like <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n77">Ngalakgan</a> (Top End) for instance, have expressions like “head ashamed”. </p>
<p>More generally, intelligent people are expected to behave appropriately and therefore, the head is associated with social attitudes such as being agreeable, responsible, selfish, socially distant, obedient or stubborn, among others. In <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n73">Rembarrnga</a> (Arnhem Land), one can say “head breaks” for “be sulky”. In many languages, “hard head” means “stubborn”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396189/original/file-20210421-13-67g3le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maggie Tukumba talking about emotions in Dalabon, Bodeidei, near Weemol, 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The forehead and nose</h2>
<p>The forehead and the nose both symbolise negative social attitudes. There are resemblances between forehead and head expressions — which is unsurprising, since the forehead is a prominent part of the head. Most forehead expressions describe people who are stubborn (“hard forehead”), selfish, inconsiderate, or are socially distant.</p>
<p>The nose targets the same emotions, with a stronger focus on selfishness and greed. Many expressions associate these emotions and attitudes with the shape of the nose. That is, expressions meaning “long nose”, or “sharp nose”, can mean “selfish” as reported by the <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c7">Kukatja</a> dictionary (Western Desert). </p>
<h2>The ears: hearing, understanding and good manners</h2>
<p>Along with the head, many Australian Indigenous languages also associate the mind with the ear. Commonly, verbs meaning “hear” also mean “understand”; and such verbs can mean “obey” as well. Think of how, in English, people say that children “don’t listen”. </p>
<p>In the same vein, ear expressions associate with emotions related to compliance and agreeableness. Many Australian languages have expressions that mean literally “ear blocked”, or even more commonly “no ear”. </p>
<p>They describe people who are stubborn or disagreeable for instance, like in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c15">Warlpiri</a> (Central Australia), where “hard ear” can mean “disobedient, stubborn”. Conversely, in some languages “good ear” can mean “good mannered” or “peaceful”. </p>
<p>Some ear expressions describe emotions that arise from uncomfortable intellectual states, like confusion or hesitation. One widespread association is between an overly active mind and emotional states of obsession. For instance, expressions that allude to “active ears” can mean “keep thinking, keep worrying about, be obsessed with”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397464/original/file-20210428-27-1nnk7gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ear expressions can allude to an overly active mind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The eyes: desire and surprise</h2>
<p>The linguistic association of emotions with the eyes is one of the most common in Australian Indigenous languages. Expressions with the eyes often express attraction or jealousy, as well as fear and surprise. </p>
<p>People tend to intensely watch those they are in love with (or jealous of), and some expressions reflect this. For example, the <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c13">Kaytetye</a> dictionary (Central Australia) reports expressions meaning literally “look with flashing eyes” to describe attraction, jealousy, or even anger. </p>
<p>Another common pattern is for expressions meaning “big eyes”, “eyes pop out” and the like to describe surprise, alluding to the way people look when they are surprised. We see this in the <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c7">Kukatja</a> language from the Western Desert, for instance. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/some-australian-indigenous-languages-you-should-know-40155">Some Australian Indigenous languages you should know</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The throat: love and anger</h2>
<p>For those of us who only know English or other European languages, the association of emotions with the throat is perhaps one of the least familiar. It is indeed less common across the world than the other body part associations presented here.</p>
<p>It is also less widespread in Australia, mostly concentrated in certain regions. In some languages, like <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c14">Alyawarr</a> or <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c13">Kaytetye</a>, both in Central Australia, speakers use throat expressions to talk about attraction, want and frustration. </p>
<p>In other parts of Australia, for instance in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/l3">Kaurna</a> in South Australia, or in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c6">Pitjantjatjara</a> in the Western Desert, the throat represents anger. The most frequent figurative representation is a dry or burning throat, usually to mean “angry”.</p>
<h2>The belly: feelings for others</h2>
<p>Across Australia, the belly (or stomach) is by far the most frequent body part in emotional expressions. A large number of expressions with the belly simply mean “feel good” or “feel bad”. Usually, this corresponds to “good belly” or “bad belly”. </p>
<p>Beyond these generic emotions, belly expressions also frequently describe what one feels towards other people. Anger is first and foremost, most typically associated with a “hot belly”. The belly also links to attachment for others, with emotions like affection, compassion, grief, etc. </p>
<p>Some belly expressions suggest a link between emotional states and digestive states. For instance, in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/c13">Kaytetye</a> (Central Australia), “have a rumbling stomach from something you ate” also means “feel worried or anxious” or “feel jealous”.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n60">Dalabon</a> (Arnhem land), people use “tensed belly” for “anxious”. Some of us know all too well that abdominal discomfort and negative emotions often come hand-in-hand. This could have inspired the association of the belly with emotions. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397487/original/file-20210428-13-1h07bty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ingrid Ashley talking about emotions in Kriol, Beswick, 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because Australian Indigenous languages contain myriads of belly expressions, they offer a wealth of creative ones. For instance, the belly is often described as hard. This can represent negative attitudes such as being unkind; as well as strength of character, which is positive.</p>
<p>Many expressions feature a damaged belly: it can be broken, cut, torn, among other things. In a number of languages, like <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/p1">Kriol</a>, spoken in the Top End, a “cracked belly” describes the shock experienced when hearing a relative has passed away. </p>
<p>Some expressions evoke more violent actions, like grabbing, pushing, catching, biting, striking the belly. Most of the time, these describe negative emotions. </p>
<h2>The heart: affection, love and fear</h2>
<p>After the belly, the heart is the next most frequent body part in emotional expressions in Indigenous Australian languages. Some of the associations will sound familiar to speakers of English. Indeed, the heart links with love in a broad sense, including affection for relatives as well as romantic love.</p>
<p>However, some of the metaphors can be quite different from the English ones: in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n60">Dalabon</a> (Arnhem Land) for instance, we find “heart sits high up” for “feeling strong affection”.</p>
<p>In addition, many heart expressions describe fear. Words for “fast heartbeat” sometimes mean “afraid” or “anxious”. The physical response to fear may have inspired the linguistic association. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-indigenous-languages-online-can-they-be-seen-heard-and-saved-64735">Taking Indigenous languages online: can they be seen, heard and saved?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The liver</h2>
<p>Liver expressions are less frequent than belly and heart ones — and don’t seem to link to a physical state of the liver triggered by emotions. Since we don’t really feel sensations in our liver, it is harder to explain why this body part is associated with emotions. </p>
<p>It is possible that, in some languages, liver expressions originated as belly expressions, and the word for “belly” evolved to mean “liver”. In all languages around the world, words change meaning all the time. In particular, words for body parts often evolve to designate adjacent body parts. </p>
<p>The emotions described by liver expressions in Indigenous languages resemble those described using the belly. Common emotions between the two include anger, affection, compassion and grief. </p>
<p>Some expressions may have been inspired by the external appearance of liver, observed from game or when cooked (rather than from internal sensations as with the belly and heart). Liver expressions feature colour metaphors, including “red liver”, but also “green liver”, as in <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/l3">Alyawarr</a> (Central Australia), which describes jealousy.</p>
<h2>The abdomen and chest</h2>
<p>Expressions with words for the broader abdominal area and chest associate with the same set of emotions as the belly and heart. They also display similar metaphors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397459/original/file-20210428-22-r0rgy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Abdomen expressions probably started as heart or belly ones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Hunt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://collection.aiatsis.gov.au/austlang/language/n151">Anindilyakwa</a> (Groote Eylandt, Top End) for instance, where speakers use a lot of chest expressions, “bad chest” means “feel bad”, and “chest dies” represents fear. Like liver expressions, chest and abdomen expressions probably started as belly or heart expressions changing meaning, as they moved to a different part of the body.</p>
<p>Of course, there is a lot more to learn about how the human body associates with emotions in languages, in Australia and elsewhere. To find out more, you can visit <a href="https://www.emotionlanguageaustralia.com/">www.EmotionLanguageAustralia.com</a>.</p>
<p>Or, you can open up your ears: who knows what you will hear if you listen with your heart to all those around you who know a language other than English? </p>
<p><em>I would like to express my most profound gratitude to speakers of the Dalabon, Rembarrnga, Kunwinjku, Kune and Kriol languages, who taught me the emotion metaphors of their own languages. So many people generously helped me that I cannot list them all here, but I would like to name Maggie Tukumba, Lily Bennett, Quennie Brennan, Nellie Camfoo, Maggie Jentian, Michelle Martin, June Jolly-Ashley, Angela Ashley and Ingrid Ashley.</em></p>
<p><em>Members of the advisory committee for <a href="https://www.emotionlanguageaustralia.com/">EmotionLanguageAustralia</a> are Dr Alice Gaby (Monash University), Dr Doug Marmion (AIATSIS), Dr Yasmine Musharbash (Australian National University), Denise Smith-Ali (Noongar Boodjar Language Centre) and Dr Michael Walsh (The University of Sydney). Many thanks to all the linguists who have contributed data and advice, as well as to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies for giving us access to some of the archived material.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was undertaken with the support of the Australian Research Council (DE160100216), the Hans Rausing Foundation (IGS0125), the Australian Institude of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies (G2007/7242 & G2009/7439) and the University of Western Australia</span></em></p>Australian Indigenous languages use a fascinating array of expressions drawing on body parts to describe emotions. Here is a guide to some of the most intriguing ones.Maïa Ponsonnet, Senior lecturer, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1222532020-12-29T20:40:22Z2020-12-29T20:40:22ZPeople on Vanuatu’s Malekula Island speak more than 30 Indigenous languages. Here’s why we must record them<p>Malekula, the second-largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago, has a linguistic connection to Aotearoa. All of its many languages are distantly related to te reo Māori and the island is the site of a long-term project to <a href="https://www.mpg.de/10845063/Galapagos-of-language-evolution">document them</a>.</p>
<p>Vanuatu has been described as the world’s “<a href="https://www.shh.mpg.de/1331538/walworth_linguistic_diversity_of_vanuatu.pdf">densest linguistic landscape</a>”, with as many as 145 languages spoken by a population of fewer than 300,000 people.</p>
<p>Malekula itself is home to about 25,000 people, who between them speak more than 30 Indigenous languages. Some are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335740458_Ahamb_Malekula_Vanuatu_-_Language_Contexts">spoken by just a few hundred people</a>.</p>
<p>For 20 years, our team of linguists has been working with small communities to <a href="https://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/about/staff/jbarbour">document</a> their languages and to develop resources to help <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335740458_Ahamb_Malekula_Vanuatu_-_Language_Contexts">preserve them</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous languages around the world are declining at a rapid rate, dying out with the demise of their last speakers. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (<a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/unpfii-sessions-2.html">UNPFII</a>) estimates <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/04/Indigenous-Languages.pdf">one Indigenous language dies every two weeks</a>.</p>
<p>As each language disappears, its unique cultural expression and world views are lost as well. Our project in Malekula hopes to counter this trend. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-languages-matter-but-all-is-not-lost-when-they-change-or-even-disappear-127519">Indigenous languages matter – but all is not lost when they change or even disappear</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Malekula languages</h2>
<p>The work in Malekula began in the 1990s when the late <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Crowley_(linguist)">Terry Crowley</a> hosted a Neve’ei-speaking university student from a small village. The encounter inspired his interest in the island’s many Indigenous languages. </p>
<p>The Malekula project works with communities to facilitate literacy initiatives, often in the form of unpublished <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2019.1604625">children’s books and thematic dictionaries</a>. The research highlights the value of Indigenous languages as an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2019.1604625">expression of local cultural identity</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of people taking part in a langauge project" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375236/original/file-20201215-19-161wafz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the authors, Julie Barbour, with a group of women at Larevet Village, Malekula.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royce Dodd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Malekula project is a response to the urgent need to record the island’s Indigenous languages in the face of significant changes to almost every aspect of traditional life. </p>
<p>These changes have brought indigenous languages into contact and competition with colonial English and French and the home-grown Bislama, a dialect of Melanesian pidgin. From education to religion, administration and domestic life, Bislama is now often the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293045913_Neverver_A_Study_of_Language_Vitality_and_Community_Initiatives">language of choice</a>. </p>
<p>Why is that a problem? The value of Indigenous languages lies in the fact that they articulate the way in which people have <a href="https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/12742">engaged with</a> and <a href="http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art39/">understood</a> their natural environment. </p>
<p>Malekula has a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-light-shed-on-pacifics-earliest-settlers/CTLMKYVQT7AQSMUD5XX54YJ7XE/">3,000-year history of human settlement</a>. Each language spoken on the island encodes unique ways in which its speakers have sustained life. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Landscape in Malekula Island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375242/original/file-20201215-15-1t989n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous languages preserve ways in which people engage with their environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royce Dodd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another fundamental aspect of Indigenous languages is their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13670050.2019.1604625">direct link to cultural identity</a>. In a place where distinctive local identities are the norm, the increasing use of Bislama reduces the linguistic diversity that has been sustained for millennia. </p>
<h2>Returning knowledge to communities</h2>
<p>In recent times, the way of life for the people of Malekula has shifted from intensely local communities to broader <a href="https://moet.gov.vu/index.php?id=mission-statement">formal education</a>. Imported religions have similarly <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338656391_Fear_and_Hope_in_Vanuatu_Pentecostalism">influenced local belief systems</a>. </p>
<p>The same centralised governance that facilitates infrastructure development and access to medical care also affects the autonomy of small communities to govern their affairs, including the languages in which children are taught.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-of-australias-indigenous-languages-and-how-we-can-help-people-speak-them-more-often-109662">The state of Australia's Indigenous languages – and how we can help people speak them more often</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="The author and friends in Malekula" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375244/original/file-20201215-21-1pn92sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author with speakers of the Uripiv language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royce Dodd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditionally, linguistic field research has produced valuable research for a highly specialist linguistic audience. Most scholars had no expectation of returning their research to the community of speakers. </p>
<p>We initially followed this tradition in writing about the <a href="https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/4400">Neverver language</a> of Malekula, but grew increasingly dissatisfied with the expectations of the discipline. Looking to modern <a href="https://www.otago.ac.nz/press/books/otago066924.html">decolonising research methodologies</a> and <a href="https://neac.health.govt.nz/national-ethical-standards-health-and-disability-research-and-quality-improvement">ethical guidelines</a> in Aotearoa, we developed the “first audience principle”. This means Indigenous language communities should be the first to hear about any field research findings.</p>
<p>The Malekula project has a dual purpose: to conduct linguistic research and to develop language resources with and for their people. In 2019, its mandate was closely aligned with the three topics of the <a href="https://en.iyil2019.org/get-involved/">International Year of Indigenous Languages</a>: support, access and promotion.</p>
<p>In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and travel bans brought linguistic fieldwork to an abrupt halt. During this unwelcome hiatus from fieldwork with Malekula communities, it has been tempting to focus on more technical analysis for our fellow academics. But our obligation to communities remains, and we are developing new ways of working with our archived field data in preparation for the time when we can return to Malekula.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous languages around the world are declining at a rapid rate, but linguists can help language revival by working with communities of native speakers.Julie Barbour, Senior Lecturer, Linguistics, University of WaikatoNicola Daly, Senior lecturer in children's literature and language teaching., University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.