A display at an Indigenous designs store in Prince Albert shows the Cree language. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

SAVING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

More should be done to revive Indigenous languages says U of S professor

Jun 28, 2023 | 4:00 PM

It has been an exciting few weeks for Cree-speaking people in Saskatchewan but while that language may be seeing a resurgence in the province, other languages are looking for their moment in the spotlight.

Earlier this week, construction began on the new building for the St. Frances Cree Bilingual School in Saskatoon just days after Prince Albert’s Gerald Morin was awarded the Order of Canada for establishing the Cree Courts in the province.

On top of that, the Cree language program at John Diefenbaker School in Prince Albert is expanding and officers with the Prince Albert Police Service can learn the Cree language.

Randy Morin is an assistant professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Saskatchewan and said there has been a lot of movement lately in making sure Indigenous languages thrive.

A couple of years ago was the Year of Indigenous Languages and the federal government has also committed to funding more Indigenous language initiatives,” he said. “They’re starting to realize that these languages are critically endangered and they need to act now in order to preserve them and save them for future generations.”

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The 2021 Census showed that almost 23,000 people in Saskatchewan spoke Cree, followed by Dene at just over 7,000. Ojibway speakers totaled 1,230 with 375 people speaking Dakota.

Unfortunately, those numbers declined from the previous Census in 2016, with Dakota speakers seeing the biggest drop at 8.5 per cent. There were over 7 per cent fewer Cree and Dene speakers in 2021.

(Statistics Canada website)

Morin noted that while Cree is seeing a resurgence in Saskatchewan and Canada, other First Nations languages are in danger of being forgotten. He said it’s been up to community members to make sure those languages stay alive.

“Everyone in their own respective nations is doing their part by any means necessary to preserve their own languages,” Morin said. “A lot of grassroots initiatives are happening many times without any kind of support from provincial or federal governments. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes movements especially from the elders of those language families, to try and preserve the languages by any means necessary.”

He said one of the biggest ways this is being done is through smartphone apps. Currently, there are apps available for languages such as Cree, Ojibwe, and Michif.

According to UNESCO, Three out of four of the 90 different living Indigenous languages in Canada identified by UNESCO are endangered. The University of Saskatchewan said in a report on Indigenous languages that mother tongues like Saulteaux, Nakota, Dakota, Lakota and Michif, are seriously endangered and are now rarely if ever learned by children as their first language.

In a study from last year, UNESCO said there are 608 critically endangered languages in the world, 30 of which are in Canada.

“It’s a state of emergency,” Morin said. “Our languages are in a State of Emergency.”

While Morin said the future is looking bright for some Indigenous languages, he noted that there are fewer first-language Indigenous speakers nowadays, but many are choosing to learn them as a second language.

“It’s adults going back to learning their languages,” he said. “There needs to be more language spoken at home, for first language learning.”

While Morin praises initiatives like the Cree bilingual school in Saskatoon and Indigenous language programs in Prince Albert, he added there needs to be more.

“There needs to be more of these schools, not just in Cree, but that reflects the other language families that come from our province. We need Ojibwe language (schools), we need a Dakota language school, a Michif language school or Dene language school.”

In regard to the Dene language, the Athabasca Denesuline Education Authority, based in Prince Albert, services four schools in Dene First Nations in northern Saskatchewan: Father Porte Memorial Denesuline School in Black Lake First Nation, Father Gamache Memorial School in Fond Du Lac First Nation, Father Megret Elementary School and Father Megret High School in Hatchet Lake First Nation.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow