How the U of M is helping to revitalize Indigenous languages

Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, Department Head of Indigenous Studies from the U of M discusses how Manitobans can support language revitalization today.

The University of Manitoba is taking steps to preserve Indigenous languages, which are facing endangerment due to colonization, residential schools, and forced assimilation.

Manitoba is home to several Indigenous languages, including Cree, Dakota, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Dene, and Michif.

According to Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, head of the U of M’s Indigenous Studies Department, all these languages have a relationship to the land.

“There are a lot of different worldviews and knowledge contained in these six different languages that are integral to Manitoba,” she said in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Monday.

Sekwan Fontaine said the U of M currently offers Cree and Ojibwe studies, adding that they are looking at the prospect of offering language classes to community members.

She noted the university also offers a pass/fail option for its Indigenous language courses to take some of the pressure off being graded.

“We’re also hoping that later on we’ll expand from Ojibwe and Cree to the other languages in Manitoba,” she said.

As the country marks National Indigenous Languages Day on Monday, Sekwan Fontaine said it’s important for Canadians to acknowledge the significance of these languages and the historic harm done to them.

“Not many people know there were once over 90 Indigenous languages in Canada,” she said.

“I think it would be amazing in the future to see immersion programs where non-Indigenous and Indigenous children were learning the local languages in school.”

Manitoba translating Hansard into Indigenous languages

On Monday, the Manitoba government announced it will be translating Hansard—the official transcripts of the debates and proceedings of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly—into seven Indigenous languages, beginning with Anishinaabemowin.

Beginning this spring, language experts will work together to create the Anishinaabemowin translations. The pilot project will focus on translating the official proceedings but may expand to other materials, including mandate letters and other releases.

“This project will generate a huge amount of Indigenous language text, which will help language learners, teachers, and artificial intelligence researchers work with our province’s first languages,” said Premier Wab Kinew in a news release.

“I’m proud to announce this initiative on National Indigenous Languages Day, which honours the languages of the Anishinaabemowin, Dakota, Cree, Anisininew, Métis, Inuit and Dene Peoples in Manitoba.”

The province has already begun the recruitment process to hire two Indigenous translators for the project.

· With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé.