Indigenous people's health tightly tied to speaking their own languages, review finds

A new research review out of the University of British Columbia (UBC) has found that Indigenous people experience better health outcomes when they speak their traditional languages.

Researchers analyzed 262 academic and community-based studies from Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and determined 78 per cent of them connected Indigenous language vitality with improved health. 

Studies found positive outcomes ranged from better physical and mental health, to increased social connections and healing, to greater educational success.

One 2007 study out of B.C. revealed that youth suicide rates were down in First Nations communities where larger amounts of people spoke Indigenous languages.

"Part of the reason why we undertook this literature review in the first place was because almost everyone that we speak with in Indigenous communities who is working on language revitalization report that reclaiming and learning their language has played a big role in their own personal health," said co-author Julia Schillo, a PhD student in UBC's linguistics department.

She did the literature review, Language improves health and wellbeing in Indigenous communities, alongside a team of UBC researchers, with help from the University of Toronto and the University of Sydney. 

One of their major findings was the importance of health care being offered in an Indigenous language, with proper translation. Without that, patients were at risk of being diagnosed incorrectly or misunderstanding medical instructions, and reported feeling alienation or a lack of respect. 

In one example, Inuit children were misclassified on cognitive tests because their testing was in English, not Inuktitut.

The review found connections between language and well being run deeper than direct communication, too.

For instance, Schillo says physical health improves when Indigenous people participate in traditional sports and consume a traditional diet — and that both of those activities correlate with speaking traditional languages.

"Based off of the literature review, but also people that I've talked to, it has to do with how language revitalization plays into identity and feelings of belonging and connection," she said.

"It has a lot to do with healing from trauma, and intergenerational trauma that's related to the Indian residential school system." 

Those findings hold true for Chantu William, a young Tsilhqot'in language speaker and second generation residential school survivor who says learning her language growing up supported her mental health and identity as an Indigenous person. 

William, who wasn't involved in the study, is an early childhood educator and a policy analyst in her nation. She's working on language handbooks to give to parents at the local daycare, "for the language to stay inside the home."