Effort to save Indigenous languages continues

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It's back. This summer, Indigenous language instructors and advocates, and those who just want to learn more about Aboriginal culture, will gather at the annual Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI) at the University of Alberta.

Heather Blair, associate professor in the department of elementary education, and Donna Paskemin, associate professor in the school of Native studies, founded the program to address the rapid loss and potential extinction of Indigenous languages in Canada.

"Well, the risks are like a forest fire burning out of control. I mean a big fire. I mean the average age of speakers of Indigenous languages in Canada is in their 50s or higher, and children virtually are not learning Indigenous languages as a mother tongue in this country," said Blair.

Typically, CILLIDI attracts participants from across Western Canada and the North interested in revitalizing their Indigenous languages. Blair said the institute has had up to 12 languages represented.

>From July 25 to Aug. 12, participants can get undergraduate and graduate university credits in language and literacy, linguistics, curriculum development and second language teaching and research. Every year, CILLDI offers a course or two in a particular Indigenous language. This year, participants can learn Blackfoot.

The timing for this conference is ideal. Alberta Learning's Language Initiative hopes to have all children in Grade 4 learning a second language in the 2006/2007 school year and all children in grades four to nine learning a second language by the 2011/2012 school year. For Blair and Cree instructor Billy Joe Laboucan, this initiative presents an excellent job opportunity for those in Indigenous language instruction.

"I mean, it's huge. It means hundreds and hundreds of second language teachers, which we currently don't have, particularly if those languages are going to be First Nations languages," said Blair. "There's a big job to be done to prepare and get people qualified to get those jobs."

Blair added CILLDI is the only place in Alberta to prepare Indigenous language teachers for the province's language initiative. In addition, children of the CILLDI students and faculty have the opportunity to attend a three-week Cree immersion day camp.

"[It's] a place where our students can observe other people teaching in an immersion context, where they can do some micro-teaching in immersion, and these kids have the wonderful opportunity of learning Cree," explained Blair.

Billy Joe Laboucan, a Lubicon Lake First Nation member, is finishing his master's degree in education and has attended CILLDI for the past three years as a student or a teacher's assistant. Getting language instructors accredited is important for Laboucan, also a part of the CILLDI co-ordinating team, who said that they will be organizing a discussion group to find ways of promoting certification of Indigenous language teachers.

"So that's the next thing, is provide accreditation for the language teachers and instructors, so that they will have some such things as wage parity, and knowledge of what they're doing, of course, like classroom management, lesson planning, that kind of stuff," said Laboucan.

He said accreditation would help Indigenous language instructors get the recognition they currently do not have.

"What is making it really difficult for them is they only get to a certain [pay] grid then they stay there, like even if they've been teaching for 20 years," he added.

An Elders program, guest speakers, other non-credit courses and Aboriginal entertainment are also part of the sixth annual CILLDI agenda. For more information about CILLDI, you can visit their Web site at www.ualberta.ca/~cilldi.