It is for this reason that acknowledging these fringe communities is necessary. As the number of fluent speakers declines, possibilities for transmission decline as well, eventually resulting in the death of a language.I just wanted to say that I found this article super impressive. Even more problematic is the fact that the average age of said speakers is increasing as well [20]. It should be a global obligation to encourage the revitalization of Aboriginal languages and to furthermore celebrate our rich cultural diversity as human beings.Wisdom Sits in Places. Their average age is 62-years-old. One of the main qualifications to obtain these jobs: speaking Inuktut.This is where the “criminally inadequate” claim by comes in.


As a result, languages are dying in Canadian aboriginal community right now. People can’t learn languages in inadequate buildings with unqualified educators and while they’re hungry.Inuit culture is fine for Olympic logos and Canada’s 150th birthday, just don’t ask for help to save their languages.Inuktut now faces a dire, looming situation similar to most Indigenous languages in the south. The ban on indigenous languages created tremendous confusion and tensions among the students. Many of the almost 90 surviving Aboriginal languages in Canada are under serious threat of extinction. In Ontario, Munsee only has 10 speakers left with an average age of 52 years old.Languages or dialects start to disappear when the number of native speakers plummets, often because they switch to a more dominant language in their region. For a given language to thrive in a community it must have the social infrastructure to do so; a community of people can only exist where there is a viable environment for them to live and, in turn, they may practice their language in solidarity [2]. There would be books.And their leaders are forced to turn to international forums like the UN and go to court to protect what should be considered the most Canadian of Canadian things: a language that is born, lives, and speaks primarily about this place.Canada is actually breaking the law in Nunavut. She would be knitting a scarf, and someone would ask her why she was “wasting her yarn.” Or they would ask her to “spill them some water,” instead of pour it. "As Prime Minister (Stephen) Harper said in the apology, the legacy of the residential schools is one of the loss of entire cultures.

A 2007 study by researchers at the universities of Oxford, British Columbia and Victoria that looked at 150 Indigenous communities in B.C. This is due to the language loss caused by the impact of colonisation. found that areas where at least half of the people had a conversational knowledge of their Indigenous language, youth suicide rates were very low – and in some cases zero.

The stability of these languages largely depends on their size and the average age of their speaker population. Language is resoundingly more than a means of communication, it is means by which humans can claim diversity and define their identity [16]. 131, (2001): 39-55. I am amazed to discover that you were in third year when you wrote it! One of the primary legal clauses that created the territory when it was formed in 1993 was to develop and provide adequate education in Inuktut.
The NTI is the representative body of Inuit in Nunavut, the only Indigenous-controlled government in Canada. In a time of rapid globalization, “to preserve our languages is also to preserve ourselves and our diverse heritage.” [17]Although this report has, thus far, focused on necessary shifts in policy and legislation, the driving principle behind these shifts is part of a larger theme— acknowledgement.

A Statistics Canada report published two years ago says the irreversible damage has already been done to 10 once-flourishing Aboriginal languages that … To read more about these dead languages, check out this article. “First Peoples’ Cultural Council | B.C. […] Linguistic Genocide Among Indigenes […]52. By these standards, Canada's Aboriginal language communities face a particularly dismal future. UNESCO says the Winnipeg program has helped people improve their language skills, and led to the publishing of a translation of Yiddish literature into English, which helps bring Yiddish culture to English speakers.But she says that ultimately, the answers have to come from communities themselves.Johns says Canada's residential school history has had a damaging effect on Aboriginal languages today.Canada has the fifth highest number of endangered languages in the world.