Text by Sara Kae. Illustration by Hawlii Pichette.

“Language itself is more than words. It’s a window into a culture,” says Lisa Perley Dutcher of Neqotkuk (Tobique) First Nation in New Brunswick. “When you lose a language, you lose a whole way of looking at the world.” In Canada, Indigenous peoples continue to face challenges, both when it comes to preserving and rebuilding Indigenous languages and reclaiming the Indigenous way of looking at the world. Residential schools banned Indigenous languages as part of a systematic attempt to assimilate Indigenous children into the European way of life — a cultural cleansing that resulted in the loss of Indigenous languages and customs, with consequences that still resonate today.

In 2021, just 13.1 percent of the Indigenous population in Canada reported being able to speak one of the more than 70 Indigenous languages well enough to conduct a conversation, which is 8.3 percent less than what was reported in 2006.

The Indigenous Languages Act, passed by Parliament in 2019, was a significant win for Indigenous peoples fighting for their right to learn their languages. For those who wanted to reconnect with their heritage, the legislation provided more opportunity to do so. But learning a language poses major challenges, which is why many Indigenous peoples have turned to community leaders and educators for help.

In Fredericton, Perley Dutcher’s commitment to the revitalization of Indigenous languages started when she established an immersion program for young children. She is the director of Kehkimin Wolastoqey Language Immersion School (kehkimin translates as “teach me”), which she co-founded in 2020. It’s an initiative she describes as time sensitive. With only about 100 fluent speakers of Wolastoqey, most of them over the age of 65, the language is at risk of extinction. By providing learning opportunities for children and their parents, the school is encouraging conversations at home. The responsibility of ensuring the survival of their language falls squarely on the shoulders of Indigenous peoples, notes Perley Dutcher.

Meanwhile, in Ontario, Lakehead University launched a 10-year plan in 2022 as part of its goal to build strong relationships with the First Nations communities it serves in Orillia and Thunder Bay. Aimed at increasing fluency in Ojibwe, Cree and Oji-Cree, Lakehead’s program in its Orillia campus — Teach Indigenous Languages — builds on an initiative that has been in place since 1981.

The program offers an Indigenous Language Teacher Diploma (ILTD), providing Anishnaabemowik speakers with an alternative path to teacher certification. As well, in conjunction with Rama First Nation, a two-week Anishnaabemowin immersion course is available at the Orillia campus.

These programs are just one piece of a larger puzzle, according to Denise Baxter, vice-provost of Indigenous initiatives at Lakehead University. “As the needs of the communities change, the way we offer service and work with [them] also needs to change,” she says. Baxter is a member of Marten Falls First Nation, in Northern Ontario, and works alongside fellow educators to improve programming offered to Indigenous students. As for Ashley Nadon of Long Lake 58 First Nation, her language journey began at a friendship centre in London, Ont., when she was a student. She has since come full circle at the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, where she is now the Indigenous language coordinator and a teacher of Anishnaabemowin — a job she loves. The centre prides itself on its language camps and cultural programming, which accommodate the local community’s vast number of Indigenous languages and peoples. Programs are offered in eight languages — Anishnaabemowin, Onoñda’gega’, Kanyen'kéha, Gayogǫho:nǫˀ, Skarù·rę’, Onyota’a:ká, Onöndowa’ga:’ and Cree.

“My heart is in Anishnaabemowin, but it’s so cool to be able to also learn, by proxy, other Indigenous languages,” says Nadon. It’s this reclaimed pride in cultural heritage that shines through in each and every initiative across Canada to preserve Indigenous languages. These efforts contribute to the collective goal and hope that the voices of Indigenous peoples will be heard and their stories will be shared, well into the future.