Lakehead University launches 10-year plan to increase Indigenous language fluency

THUNDER BAY AND ORILLIA (April 20, 2022) – Lakehead University is embarking on a 10-year initiative that will support the revitalization of Indigenous languages in and around the University.

This plan will reaffirm the University’s commitment to working alongside Indigenous communities as they revitalize those languages by providing an interactive and immersive experience.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has designated 2022–2032 as the Decade of Indigenous Languages.

“Indigenous languages are a basic human right recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” said Denise Baxter, Lakehead’s Vice-Provost, Indigenous Initiatives.

“This plan is designed to provide institutional support for students, faculty, staff, and Indigenous partner communities for language revitalization,” said Vicki Monague, a Lakehead University graduate student, founding member of the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Languages committee, and the plan’s author. “It supports the development of fully fluent Indigenous speakers and will result in systemic support for linguistic and cultural justice for Indigenous Peoples.”

The revitalization of Indigenous languages is a social movement where everyone has a role whether they are Indigenous or non-Indigenous, a language learner or a non-language learner.

At Lakehead University, there are three Indigenous languages taught: Oji-cree, Cree, Ojibwe, with four dialects of Ojibwe: Eastern, Northern, Southwestern, and Western. Lakehead held a kick-off celebration with Ojibwe Language Revitalization expert Dr. Anton Treuer, Ojibwe professor at Bemidji State University, and author, on April 20.

At the Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages meeting in Mexico City, more than 500 participants from 50 countries passed the Los Pinos Declaration, which affirmed Indigenous Peoples’ rights to freedom of expression, to an education in their mother tongue, and to participation in public life using their languages, as prerequisites for the survival of Indigenous languages, many of which are currently on the verge of extinction.

Sadly, Indigenous language loss is prevalent in Canada where many communities no longer produce fluent first-language speakers.

“At Lakehead University, we are excited to respond to the Los Pinos Declaration on the Decade of Indigenous languages,” said Dr. Moira McPherson, Lakehead University’s President and Vice-Chancellor. “This is a vital opportunity to continue building collaborative relationships with Indigenous peoples here on Turtle Island. The best way to achieve justice for the experience of Indigenous peoples in the Indian Day School system and the Indian Residential School system is to learn an Indigenous language… We hope our commitment to Indigenous language revitalization and our deep appreciation of Indigenous knowledges will result in creating, supporting, and maintaining linguistic and cultural justice for the generations of today, and for those yet to come.”

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About Lakehead University

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean’s 2021 University Rankings; as well as included in the top half of Times Higher Education’s 2022 World Universities Rankings for the third consecutive year, and in the top 100 of 1,115 universities from around the world in THE’s 2021 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

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