I will be reflecting on the following quote:
“While the report, as we shall see, does address many of the key issues surrounding the protection and the promotion of indigenous languages, it operates very much within a framework of colonial constitutionalism and offers little thinking outside of this rather cramped constitutional box” (Haque & Patrick, 2015, p. 36).
Indigenous languages are the original languages of Canada. The extinction and/or endangerment of these languages would be a concern if, and this is a big if. If Canada legally recognized it as a founding language. Imagine the outrage if French were going extinct in Canada. There would be money being funnelled into projects to revitalize the language. This puts schools in an interesting position as Indigenous language-based preschools are being implemented and core french is being replaced with core Cree. Do teachers have a responsibility to revitalize these languages if the government does not recognize them as founding languages? Where does the responsibility lie and how many more languages need to disappear before they are recognized as founding languages?
Understanding Canada’s history with Indigenous languages makes us more aware of their importance. We put more value and effort into projects that we understand. Helping students develop empathy for Indigenous languages is a step toward Truth and Reconciliation. Students do not need to understand how to speak a language to put value to it. We all must recognize the importance of diversity in language so that we can be aware of our linguistic landscape. In Canada people speak an abundance of languages, we just need to recognize when one needs more attention and recognition than others.
Eve Haque & Donna Patrick (2015) Indigenous languages and the racial
hierarchisation of language policy in Canada, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development, 36:1, 27-41, DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2014.892499
Hayley Hodson 