Indigenous population and the Importance of Language Revitalization

Antone (2000) states “For many years the voice of the Aboriginal People has been silenced due to the educational system that was thrust upon us by Euro-Western proponents in their zeal to assimilate the Indigenous people of North America” (p. 92). The residential school system was a process of assimilation and colonization that has negatively impacted Indigenous knowledge, language, and traditions. Indigenous knowledge is currently held by the older generations of Indigenous people who remember what was before residential school forcibly imposed there ways of life onto Indigenous people. I have personally witnessed in my communities that older generations are passing and with them our traditional knowledge. As a child and teenager I remember sitting with my great grandmother listening to her experiences of residential school, and what she remembered before she went there at the age of four, as an adult I wish I would have spent more time listening because the knowledge is important for future generations.

Settee (2009) states “The deliberate and state-imposed destruction of Indigenous languages has caused the loss of traditional knowledge systems” (p.87). Due to process of assimilation and colonization language has been lost for future generations, which has impacted traditional knowledge practices because the language is core to traditional knowledge. There is a significant belief that language is tied to cultural and spiritual practices and because the language is slowly being lost cultural and spiritual practices will soon be lost as well if no action is taken (Settee, 2009).

Settee (2009) states “the loss of language means the loss of human diversity and all the knowledge contained therein” (p. 88). I once heard from an elder that “without our languages we will no longer be distinct from the rest of the population” (personal communication, 2009). This elder talked at a language revitalization conference that I was involved in and it has always stayed with me, and it scared me because Indigenous people are distinct and the traditional knowledge is distinct from the rest of our population. Through all the hardships Indigenous people have faced there is a long road to cultural, spiritual and language recovery. Indigenous elders are important for this process because they hold this knowledge and it is the responsibility of future generations to ask for this knowledge. Antone (2000) states “It was because of racist and discriminatory government policies that I was not taught the language of my people. I was led to believe that only the language of the dominant culture was valid and acceptable” (p.92). Indigenous  people fight for their rights and language is a significant right that is being revitalized for generations to come and for traditional knowledge to recuperate which has been impacted negatively.

Settee (2009) states “there is no one magic formula to support language strategies” (p. 90). I think it is important to understand that all Indigenous nations are different and they have different practices, therefore every community is going to be different in their language revitalization.  Indigenous elders need and are involved in this process, at language revitalization conferences that I have attended there was boardrooms full of elders, and as a youth sitting with these elders and talking to them was amazing. Although mainstream education is important, Indigenous knowledge is just as important for Indigenous people if not more important for Indigenous people to continue traditional knowledge for future generations. 

Wesley-Esquimaux (2009) states “Today, First Nations peoples are turning their gaze away from the colonizer and back to the hoop in an effort to reclaim their culture and free themselves from that which they could not control (p.20).  Indigenous people are in the processes of decolonization and are reclaiming what once was their traditional way, and this is important for future generations, I feel that youth need to be more involved in this process through speaking to elders and being involved in traditional and spiritual activities, because it would positively influence families and communities.

-Danielle

 

References:

Settee, P.. (2009, October). Education, Native Languages, and Supporting Indigenous Knowledge. Our Schools, Our Selves, 19(1), 87-93.  Retrieved November 23, 2011, from CBCA Complete. (Document ID: 1893274231).

Wesley-Esquimaux, C. (2009). Trauma to Resilience: Notes on Decolonization. In Valaskakis, G,G. Tout, M,D. & Guimond, E. (Eds.), Restoring the Balance First Nations Women, Community, and Culture.(pp.13-34). Canada: University of Manitoba Press.  

Eileen M Antone. (2000). Empowering aboriginal voice in aboriginal education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 24(2), 92-101. Retrieved January 8, 2012, from CBCA Complete. (Document ID: 75166098).