Inuktut is the language spoken by the Indigenous people in Canada’s North, the Inuit. The Canadian government has passed a law to strengthen Indigenous languages. (iStock)

Initiative to strengthen education in Indigenous language, Inuktut

Efforts to strengthen education in the Indigenous language of Inuktut were formalized on March 9, 2021. The government of Canada, the government of the northern territory of Nunavut and Tunngavik Incorporated signed a memorandum of understanding laying out several initiatives. Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is the legal representative of the Inuit people of Nunavut and is tasked with ensuring the federal and territorial governments fulfill their legal obligations as set out in Indigenous treaty rights. 

In 2019, the Canadian government earmarked $333.7 million over five years to support Indigenous languages projects based in communities. The government of Nunavut manages education through its Education Act and Inut Language Protection Act. They require a bilingual education with Inuktut at its core, and Inuit educator training through the Nunavut Arctic College.

The government of Nunavut will use the funding in part to expand Inuit educator training through the college. 

Inuktut has its own script which is taught in school. (Government of Nunavut/CBC)

Hopes of increasing the number of fluent Inuktut speakers

The agreement has several goals. Among them it seeks to increase access to Inuktut-language education in Nunavut and to increase the number of Inuktut-speaking educators. It is hoped this will increase the number of of fluent Inuktut speakers in Nunavut and promote revitalization of the language and rights related to language and education. 

“Through our collective tripartite efforts, we will create a new generation of language champions for our schools and communities, and increase our capacity to educate our children in Inuktut,” said David Joanasie, Nunavut’s minister of education and responsible for Nunavut Arctic College. “I am proud that this agreement and investment will ensure that the Nunavut Teacher Education Program will have the capacity to meet Nunavut’s goal of a bilingual education system.”

This agreement is one of the first to be implemented under the Indigenous Languages Act which was passed in 2019 to support the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim and strengthen their languages.

Categories: Indigenous, Society
Tags: , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.