Decline in Aboriginal languages concerns educators

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According to the First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centres (FNCCEC), a national non-profit association that represents 77 First Nations Cultural Centres and colleges in communities across western Canada, keeping Aboriginal languages alive and in use is of utmost importance.

The group has watched the dramatic decline of Aboriginal language use over the years, with 87.4 per cent of Aboriginal people speaking their languages in 1951 down to 36 per cent of adults and 21 per cent of youth in 1991.

A Statistics Canada national language survey done in 1992 revealed that in most Aboriginal communities only 11 per cent of the people spoke their language fluently and that 30 per cent of Aboriginal communities had an Aboriginal language that was endangered.

Less than 50 per cent of the adults spoke their language fluently, and a very few, if any, were younger speakers. In some communities, 80 per cent of the Elders spoke their language fluently, but there were no fluent speakers under the age of 45. At that time Statistics Canada noted that if there were no fluent speakers of a given language for over two successive generations, the language would be lost.

"All of the Aboriginal colleges are aware of the statistics and that is why they are trying to find ways to save these languages," said Vernon Saddleback of Maskwachees Cultural College in Hobbema. "They want to find a way to put these Aboriginal languages on the Internet as part of retaining them. I know they are working on that project right now."

For the Kainai Board of Education of southern Alberta, retaining the Blackfoot language in the community has been the ongoing work of a number of individuals from the four communities in the area. Board member Leo Fox said a Blackfoot language immersion program on one of the reserves is taught at two of their elementary schools.

Blackfoot as a second language is also taught from grades 1 to 4 in the elementary school. In the middle school it is offered as a second language program and taught in the high schools as Blackfoot 10, 20 and 30.

"All the students attending Kainai high school from grades 9 to 12 have to have at least Blackfoot 10...One thing that is a drawback for these children wanting to speak their language is that a lot of the parents do not speak their language, so there is no continuity from the school to the home," said Fox.

Language classes may be offered to the parents so that they can re-learn the language or learn it for the first time, he said.

"At this point we realize that we have to do something drastic, otherwise the Blackfoot language is just going to go. It will disappear. A lot of the adults know the language or they understand it, but they do not speak fluently. A lot of them are not comfortable enough to try to use it because they are afraid of being ridiculed. As time goes by we want to have the parents become more involved in the adult program," Fox said.

Some question the value of trying to keep the language alive.

"They say 'We are not living in the past,' but I think that this is very valuable because our whole thought processes are in our language," said Fox. "I think that as time goes by we are going to prove that these students can do it and they will be a lot richer for learning their languages and not just one. I also find that their self-identity will be stronger as Aboriginal people when they keep their own languages."

In the Cold Lake area, John Janvier, an instructor at the Le Goff School, is involved in teaching the Dene language to the students in the community.

"It is important to me because no one knows when any of the Aboriginal languages began, when it was ever first spoken and the language is in danger of disappearing. Just because there are different influences in our lives, that does not necessarily mean that we should let our language die," he said.

Janvier believes that reaching younger people is the only way for the community to keep heir languages. He says the younger generation has been neglected when in come to teaching them the language.

"If they had someone to speak to on a regular basis I think that they would try to speak it. That is what my thoughts are. What I hope to see in the future regarding the Dene language is to hear the language being spoken wherever there are Dene people. A lot of people are becoming aware of their language and those that understand are making an effort to practice it," he said.

Janvier says that a project in the community is helping to revitalize the language. He hopes that this project will make the younger adults aware of why the language is being taught.

The project is not set up in a formal class. Instead, the community gets together in the evening for coffee, tea, or during the day for a luncheon. In attendance are people who are fluent speakers or at different levels of conversing in Dene.

"The ones who are fluent in the language help out the ones who are not so fluent. They meet once every week," said John Janvier.

At the Morley Community School, Grade 6 teacher Kim Fox does her part to keep the local language alive. For 40 minutes once a week she instructs the Grade 1 to Grade 4 classes in the Stoney language.

"The challenge right now is that the majority of the students here speak English. We are trying to teach the language and no one can hear us because in a class of 20 maybe four speak Stoney," she said.

"I find that as a teacher, explaining to students who are fluent in their Aboriginal languages is easier. I find that the students who speak our language, I do not get a defiant attitude from them. I'm hoping that the language will be more important in the future.

"I'm finding some of the students saying that 'We do not have to speak Stoney, we are already speaking English anyway.' They have that type of attitude and they feel that the people who speak English are more intelligent. That is what they think, so they are ashamed of thei language, which is kind of sad. So we are trying to encourage the students to use their language in the classroom as much as possible. I find that the people who can speak their own language, it helps them have a healthy sense of being Aboriginal and I find that the school system in our community is really supporting the Stoney language program," she said.

Ida Bull is an instructor for the Maskwachi Immersion Program at Nipisikopahk Primary School in Hobbema. Teaching Cree to young people has been a positive challenge for her.

Although Bull speaks fluent Cree, she still calls her 87-year-old mother to help with a word or two.

"She directs me. If, for example, I'm not doing a particular thing right while teaching she directs me, and we get a few Elders, who drop by from time to time, just to visit and see how things are going," she said.

Bull uses a number of methods to teach the children.

"As a class we will go outdoors and study. We will say the animals and plants in Cree, and also study the four bands that make up Hobbema; what roles the chief and council play when they are in office. We will say these terms in Cree. We often visit various businesses in our area, such as the fire department, and whenever we hear about a fire, we talk about fire safety in the Cree language. The kids have to keep being told that the Cree language is important. They have to start understanding that we are losing our languages. Whenever I talk my language with other people I really enjoy it," she said.

Originally from Saddle Lake, Judy Brule, the Cree instructor at the Friendship Centre in Edmonton, helps to promote the Cree language with a class once a week for a number of adult students from the community.

"It makes me feel good speaking to people in Cree. I like teaching the students in my class because I find that they are interested and really keen to learn the language," she said.