Indigenous tongues must remain accessible
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Language is inherently human. Being able to articulate our thoughts is what distinguishes us from animals. Language is a tool to foster communities and shape identities.
When one sets out to learn a new language, one is usually encouraged to partake in a variety of activities in order to improve. We are told to listen to music sung in that tongue, read its books, watch its movies, or practice with native speakers to perfect the language. What do these actions have in common? They’re grounded in cultural customs – because language is inherently cultural.
When your mother tongue is suppressed, and you are forbidden to speak your own language, you are subject to cultural erasure.
The First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples have always relied on oral communication and storytelling to impart wisdom and preserve history. Storytelling in particular is a traditional method that is used to teach cultural beliefs, values, customs, history, and ways of life.
According to First Nations Pedagogy Online, “First Nations storytelling involves expert use of the voice, vocal and body expression, intonation, the use of verbal imagery, facial animation, context, plot and character development, natural pacing of the telling, and careful authentic recall of the story.” First Nations, Inuit, and Metis stories are essential to relaying historical or sacred narratives, as well as the socio-political practices of the community. One can only imagine how much history is lost when elders lose this ability to communicate with younger generations.
This is a way colonialism destroys nations. When one is more concerned with mastering the colonizers’ languages, like English or French, they are eventually forced to abandon their cultural identities. However, we cannot blame the victims of colonial erasure for their need to assimilate and thrive in an environment where the dominant language is not the one spoken by their ancestors. At the end of the day, humans require community. Speaking the colonizer’s language becomes a means of survival, especially when it imposes itself in all aspects of our lives, be it academic, professional, and even personal.
The Canadian government’s efforts at pursuing truth and reconciliation have remained performative and empty. Land acknowledgements are made at public events or plastered all over government and university websites. Truth and Reconciliation Day is marked by orange t-shirts and public speeches from the government, but after October 1, it’s back to counting down the days until Thanksgiving: another dark day for the Indigenous community. Yet these efforts fail to preserve an integral part of Indigenous culture: language.
In 2019, the government of Canada passed the Indigenous Languages Act in an attempt to promote and revitalize Indigenous languages. However, the impact of this legislation has been mostly symbolic. The province of Quebec insists on preserving its Francophone culture by implementing The Charter of the French Language, conveniently forgetting that Quebec is on unceded Indigenous land, with Kanien’kéha initially being the land’s native tongue. French lessons are offered by the government, and universities like McGill are reducing tuition for students who take French classes. Yet Indigenous languages are hardly as accessible, forcing yet another barrier to Indigenous cultural preservation.
This National Truth and Reconciliation Day, we must do more than just acknowledge the land on which we reside. We cannot merely offer empty apologies for the genocidal crimes that led to Canada’s establishment. We all must recognize the structural repercussions of the ongoing colonial project which have destroyed First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities. We must commit to long-term actions in preserving Indigenous culture, and pushing for more accessible opportunities to learn Indigenous languages.
Indigenous history lies in stories told, and it is our duty to learn the languages in which they were meant to be heard.