Commissioner of Indigenous Languages discusses importance of language preservation

By: Olivia Sherman, News Writer

Content warning: mentions of residential schools and anti-Indigenous racism.

After Canada’s implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act in 2019, aiming to support the reawakening of Indigenous languages in Canada, the Office Commission for Indigenous Languages was founded. The first Commissioner of this independent organization, former Stsmél̓qen ((Skeetchestn) Chief, Dr. Ronald E. Ignace, gave a keynote address at SFU to discuss the importance of this initiative. His lecture started off SFU Multilingual 2024, a yearly week-long festival to uplift and celebrate diversity and language.

“Canada has a history now known to the world as cultural genocide,” Ignace said, referencing the history of Indigenous languages being systematically repressed by colonial powers. These acts “gave rise to our Indigenous languages being silenced, oppressed, and stigmatized by colonial policies, legislation, and systemic, racialized abuse.” Through the implementation of residential schools across Canada, many Indigenous children were separated from their cultures, heritage, languages, and identities.

“These are purposeful acts. By targeting our languages, they are targeting our identity,” he said. While the colonial powers’ goal “was to take the Indian out of the child,” Ignace stated the Commission’s initiative is to “put the Indian back into the child.”

According to UNESCO, there are over 70 Indigenous languages spoken across Canada. Every Indigenous language spoken in Canada is considered at risk due to a lack of speakers. Yet, since 2016, speakers of Xa’islak’ala (Haisla), Halq̓eméylem (Halkomelem), Haíłzaqv (Heiltsuk), and Michif all increased by over 33%. “It is through language that children receive their cultural heritage,” Ignace said.

Among numerous initiatives, the Commission is working on research for a language directory. This “research involves determining what are root languages, versus dialects versus regional variations.”

Ignace is the former Chief of the Stsmél̓qen Indian Band, leading the community for more than 30 years. He also served as Chairman of the Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nation Tribal Council and president of its cultural society. “It is the truth of the struggle of Indigenous Peoples and survival, especially over the past 30 years that have led me here today,” he said. The objective of the Commission is “to assist Indigenous people across the country, to breathe life back into our Indigenous languages.

“I think it’s important that we understand each other’s rights so that we can make proper space for our languages to be properly honoured and respected,” Ignace stated. “All languages are sacred languages.

“There’s hope, and it’s in the Indigenous Languages Act and the precedent it sets. It took 30 years of struggle to get to the promulgation of that act.”