Language revitalization efforts and teaching edit
The Mi'kmaq language possesses a degree of endangerment level of vulnerable under the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger scale.[1] A level of vulnerable means the language may not be used consistently and instead the dominant language English is opted.[1] This also means it is still somewhat commonly spoken by younger generations or children of Mi'kmaq people. [1] A lack of fluent Mi'kmaq speakers is due to the cultural genocide performed by the Canadian government through the introduction of residential schools. [2]These schools under the notation of assimilation, forced Indigenous children reject their cultural identity and language.[2] These schools resulted in a significant number of children physically and mentally abused and without the means to speak their mother tongue.
Wagmatcook, Cape Breton, is undergoing significant efforts to revitalize the language. The community created a variety of children's books suited for a range of ages to develop Mi'kmaq language skills as children mature.[3] The use of Mi'kmaq immersion schools in this area also increased the proficiency in the language for children and an improved attachment to their Indigenous identity.[4] The immersion schools allowed children to learn their mother tongue, which increases the number of fluent speakers while still obtaining the dominant language.[4] Community member educators also participated in a program to obtain a Certificate in Aboriginal Literacy Education that increased their fluency in the language.[3]
Cape Breton University's Unamaꞌki College specializes "in Miꞌkmaq history, culture and education." As of 2013, "it has some 250 aboriginal students."
"Parents come to me and say they hear their children in the backseat of the car speaking Miꞌkmaq and they're excited," said the Miꞌkmaq language instructor at Lnu Siꞌpuk Kinaꞌmuokuom Miꞌkmaq school in Indian Brook. Miꞌkmaq language courses are mandatory from grades Primary to 12 at the school, which only opened six years ago." Evening classes are starting as of Oct. 2013.
Also as of 2013, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia's Miꞌkmaq Burial Grounds Research and Restoration Association has about forty students in its Miꞌkmaq language revitalization classes, and Miꞌkmaq greetings are becoming more common in public places.
References edit
- ^ a b c "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
- ^ a b MacDonald, David B.; Hudson, Graham (2012). "The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada". Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique. 45 (2): 427–449. ISSN 0008-4239.
- ^ a b Smith, Donna-Lee; Peck, Josephine (2004-09-01). "WKSITNUOW WEJKWAPNIAQEWA - MI'KMAQ: A VOICE FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE DAWN". McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill. 39 (003). ISSN 1916-0666.
- ^ a b Usborne, Esther; Peck, Josephine; Smith, Donna-Lee; Taylor, Donald M. (2011). "Learning through an Aboriginal Language: The Impact on Students' English and Aboriginal Language Skills". Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation. 34 (4): 200–215. ISSN 0380-2361.