McGill’s Indigenous Studies language classes are dying. As it stands, Intro to Kanien’kéha (INDG 302) is the only INDG language course currently offered in the Faculty of Arts, with a maximum capacity of 25 students. While Naskapi, Mi’gmaw, Cree, Mohawk, and Algonquin language courses used to be available through the Faculty of Education, they are not offered this academic year. The Indigenous Studies program is also struggling financially. Due to a deficit in this year’s budget, caused in part by the out-of-province tuition hikes imposed last year by the Legault government, individual departments at McGill are tasked with downsizing. This follows hot on the heels of the McGill hiring freeze, instituted in December 2023. The university’s financial situation, unsurprisingly, disproportionately affects the operation of smaller departments, which already have fewer resources at their disposal.
However, the lack of both courses and funds in the Indigenous Studies department is only one of the many symptoms of the slowing momentum of social movements in Quebec and Canada overall. While the program itself is small, with only a minor offered, its symbolic importance is immense. Indigenous studies recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems, history, and, most importantly, languages – which are spoken by fewer and fewer people. The study of Indigenous languages in educational establishments functions as a form of activism by making Indigenous cultures visible and giving a voice to their speakers, yet the underfunding and dismantling of such programs reveals how our pressing social movements are increasingly getting sidelined.
Throughout the 2010s, Indigenous issues were pushed into mainstream public consciousness. This was largely due to grassroots mobilizations such as Idle No More, a 2012 peaceful protest movement to protect Indigenous rights and the environment, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) reports, and widespread calls for the decolonization of Canadian institutions, as well as, later, the 2021 discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the Kamloops Residential School. The TRC’s Calls to Action explicitly include greater educational initiatives to revitalize Indigenous languages that were systematically repressed through colonial policies banning their usage. Universities responded to these calls to action by creating Indigenous language courses and programs. Concordia University, for example, implemented a B.A. in First Peoples Studies, and the University of British Columbia (UBC) is renowned for its programs in the field, one of which is specifically targeted at endangered languages. McGill’s Indigenous studies program is a consequence of this movement, declaring itself as first and foremost, “tasked with the initiation of the implementation of the 52 Calls to Action,” The program is meant to signal the university’s willingness to take linguistic revitalization seriously.
Yet, a mere decade later, the slow-but-sure dissolution of the program points to a regression of Indigenous activism. This decay mirrors a larger Canadian trend. The federal government pays lip service to reconciliation while simultaneously cutting resources, building oil pipelines through Indigenous land, and deprioritising social initiatives when it doesn’t suit the political agenda. For example, despite federal commitments to support Indigenous languages through the 2019 Indigenous Languages Act, funding has been inconsistent in the face of global recessions and the COVID-19 pandemic, which took the front seat in terms of federal priorities.
Here in Quebec, ongoing efforts to support the French language through policies such as Bill 96 exclude Indigenous languages in their creation of an anglophone-francophone binary. They leave little room for Indigenous linguistic revival. The gains made by social movements are often already limited. They become fragile when they are no longer in the public consciousness. Without the preservation of languages, Indigenous activists lose their voices, and without these voices, strong social justice movements cannot happen. McGill, the Quebec government, and Canadian federal policies need to commit to prioritizing the preservation of these languages. Otherwise, we risk the dissipation of the momentum we have built up, leaving behind the rhetoric of change without any substance.