Uniting people across the globe in efforts of Indigenous Language revitalization

By Andrea Smith

VICTORIA, B.C.—To honour the United Nation’s Declaration that 2019 is the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the HELISET TŦE SḰÁL International Indigenous Language Conference went live from Victoria, B.C., on June 24-26.

The First People’s Cultural Council (FPCC) and the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation, in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, presented the international conference, but multiple sponsors also made it possible, including RBC Bank, Heritage Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, the Royal BC Museum, New Relationship Trust, and Mandell Pinder Barristers and Solicitors, as well as the Province of British Columbia.

The goal of the conference was to bring together people from around the world to talk about, and help in the efforts of Indigenous Language revitalization.

Keynote speakers kicked off the first morning with a welcoming ceremony and some powerful statements.

“Language is foundational to Indigenous peoples’ self-determination in Canada and around the world. Too many of our languages are in danger of disappearing, but we know that when countries, such as Canada, uphold Indigenous languages their likelihood of survival increases. This is why we pushed for the passing of an Act respecting Indigenous languages by Canada’s Parliament, and why I’m so proud it is now part of Canadian law,” said National Chief Perry Bellegarde, of the Assembly of First Nations, referring to the Indigenous Languages Act announced by Trudeau, that recently received Royal Assent.

National Chief Bellegarde finished with a key take away point—that Indigenous people believe all people are from the same human family, and that the work must be done together.

“To all my relatives throughout the world… We’re connected and we don’t care if you’re black, white, yellow, red or polka dotted… We’re the two-leggeds,” he said. “And if we can incorporate this holistic worldview through an Indigenous perspective, we will have hope. And it’s our languages that help provide that hope and foundation.”

National Chief Bellegarde’s address was followed by a panel discussion with the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations; Rawinia Higgins, a Maori academic; and Laurel Nash, a board member for FPCC.

There was one notable surprise visit the first day, too—not mentioned on the program beforehand—a cameo appearance in the form of a video message from His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales himself, just prior to National Chief Bellegarde.

Dr. Lorna Williams, associate professor of Indigenous Education at the University of Victoria, introduced Prince Charles by saying that Indigenous language warriors have allies in all kinds of places, and that partnerships are key to this effort. His Royal Highness has a Trust which has funded an extraordinarily large number of projects for Indigenous language in Canada. These projects include over 23,000 children’s books; an app in 16 Indigenous languages; an educational television program for Cree children and youth; digital literacy workshops; and a trip to Wales for an Inuit languages committee to talk about best practices in language efforts.

“During the course of many visits to Canada over the past 49 years, I’ve had the great pleasure of being welcomed into many First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and to experience first-hand the importance of culture,” said Prince Charles. “Indigenous cultural knowledge and languages make an important contribution to our world’s rich cultural diversity. They also contribute much wisdom to peace building, sustainable development, good governance, and reconciliation. Recognizing just how much Indigenous languages and communities contribute to our world, my Trust in Canada has adopted language revitalization as one of their core activities.”

On Day Two, the morning opened with a talk by Dr. Lorna Williams, who, along with her work at the University of Victoria, is also a board member for FPCC. She spoke about some of the challenges which come up during language revitalization movements, and was followed by a panel discussion with young language activists, speakers and learners. The panel consisted of Skil Jaadee White, a Haida artist and language speaker; Gisele Martin, a Nuu-chah-nulth cultural educator and language activist; and Jordan Brant, a language teacher at Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa, a Mohawk language immersion school in Ohsweken, Ont.

Brant shared his personal journey of coming back to the language, stating that all of his life, people around him—teachers, relatives, friends, Elders—were telling him he needed to learn his language. He continuously put it off, until one day, he didn’t.

“I went to university and there was a Mohawk class by someone from my home community… In my last year of university, the same person said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I wanna’ go and write my LSATS. I wanna be a land claims negotiator…’ He said, ‘That’s stupid,’” said Brant, with a laugh. The crowd laughed too. “So, I guess I needed to be told from the time I was little until then.”

Brant stressed the point that organizations will experience obstacles too, but he shared what he’s found works best when trying to get young people involved in learning—that organizations need not be afraid of failure, and checking and re-checking what is and isn’t working.

A number of other workshops and speakers spoke throughout the three days, including Dr. Te Taka Keegan of the University of Waikato, discussing Maori sovereignty over Maori language data, and Dr. Kevin Lowe, addressing some of the major issues between Indigenous language aspirations and education policy.

On the last day, Grand Chief Ed John, an UNESCO steering committee member for Indigenous languages, left the audience with closing remarks.

“Preserving Indigenous languages is a top priority for B.C. First Nations. The First Peoples’ Cultural Council, First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation and CCUNESCO are connected with a vast network of Indigenous language experts around B.C., Canada and the globe. This international conference provides a great opportunity to bring these people together in our collective efforts to save and rebuild Indigenous languages worldwide.”