20th Language Keepers conference kicks off in Saskatoon

Darlene Brander says there’s still a lot of work needed to revitalize Indigenous languages in Canada, but there are moments that remind her the work is worth it.

“We know the work is working when we hear the voices of the youth speaking the language,” said Brander, president of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre.

“Nothing's sweeter to the ear when you're hearing somebody who's eight or nine or 12 years old speaking the language with purpose and pride.”

The annual First Nations Language Keepers Gathering runs Tuesday and Wednesday at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon. The event — now in its 20th year — is organized by the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre and brings together educators, academics and others working on Indigenous language preservation and revitalization.

They’re fighting the “erosion of language” that’s happening in urban areas and among youth, Brander said, adding that the challenge right now is developing and placing language resources in communities.

In Saskatchewan, 31,250 First Nations people reported being able to speak an Indigenous language, according to the 2021 Statistics Canada census. The number of people in the province who can speak any of the Cree dialects dropped 7.4 per cent to 22,730 in 2021 compared to 2016.

“There's that old adage, you need to use it or else you lose it,” Brander said. “We want to make sure that people are speaking their languages because there's a beauty in speaking your language.… You're able to live the sacred way.”

Nationally, Indigenous people who can speak an Indigenous language well enough to have a conversation declined about four per cent to 237,420 in 2021 compared to 2016, according to Statistics Canada. 

But that same census data shows more Indigenous people are choosing to learn an Indigenous language. Second-language speakers accounted for 27.7 of all Indigenous language speakers in Canada, an increase of 6.7 per cent from 2016, according to the 2021 census.

Canada’s Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages is creating a “road map” communities can use to teach a new generation of speakers, said Commissioner Ron Ignace.

“Fifty per cent of the languages in Canada are either critically endangered or endangered and even the viable ones are not safe,” Ignace said after his keynote speech on Tuesday.

He said Canada should look at language immersion education models used in New Zealand and Hawaii for inspiration. Language erosion is about more than losing words, he added.

“We lose our soul. We lose our spirit because our language is the cradle of our spirit as Indigenous peoples.”