Resources

Indigenous peoples have consistently stressed the importance of language as the primary tool to share and communicate culture, world views and values to future generations (Assembly of First Nations, 2019). The right to language was outlined in Article 13 (1) of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: “Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons” (United Nations, 2007).

More than 70 distinct Indigenous languages are currently spoken by First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, all Indigenous languages spoken in Canada are considered at risk, being classified as either vulnerable, definitely endangered, severely endangered or critically endangeredNote1 (C. Moseley, 2010). As documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Volume 5, 2015), this risk is the result of intergenerational impacts of cultural genocide and discriminatory colonial policies, most notably residential schools, which aimed to destroy Indigenous cultures and languages by forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families and assimilating them by punishing and shaming the use of Indigenous languages.

The Indigenous Languages Act was passed in 2019 to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada and to support the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen their languages (Indigenous Languages Act, 2019). UNESCO has declared 2022 to 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve and promote them nationally and around the world (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2021).

This article uses data from the 2021 Census of Population to examine the Indigenous languages spoken by First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada, highlighting the diversity of Indigenous languages by geographic region.
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-x/2021012/98-200-x2021012-eng.cfm

Assembly of First Nations. (2019 to 2020). A Guide to An Act Respecting Indigenous Languages: A Tool for First Nations Language Revitalization.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Why is it so hard to type in Indigenous Languages,   Prof  Mark Turin, The Conversationist,   https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-type-in-indigenous-languages-245247
Check ou this video > Introducting two new capital letters to the Unicode Standard to Haíɫzaqvḷa

Living the Culture:  Museum of American Indians
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/code-talkers/native-languages/

Teach Native Histories
https://teachnativehistories.umass.edu/sites/default/files/Language%20of%20Social%20Studies_A.Mafi_Resource%20%231.pdf

Indigenous languages once flourished in the United States. Today, they continue to account for a large portion of the nation’s linguistic diversity.
In this video, Andrina Wekontash Smith explores the history of Native American languages and modern efforts of revitalization.

Read More: What Was, And What Is: Native American Languages In The United States
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/native-american-languages-in-the-us

US Support for Indigenous Languages - Administration for Native Americans
https://acf.gov/ana/programs/native-languages#:~:text=Additionally%2C%20Congress%20passed%20the%20Esther,language%20immersion%20and%20restoration%20programs