Indigenous language preservation: ‘We’re fighting against a clock’

Indigenous Languages Day celebrates the resiliency around Indigenous language revitalization, and also marks the urgency to preserve something culturally critical.

March 31st marks Indigenous Languages Day, an occasion celebrating Indigenous language revitalization while signifying the urgency to preserve something culturally critical.

“I think the struggle that we’re dealing with right now is we’re fighting against a clock,” says Melanie Kennedy, executive director of Indigenous Languages of Manitoba.

“How we battle through that is just by ensuring that we are following the guidance of our elders and documenting that language before our speakers are no longer here to share that with us.”

Despite the help of existing resources, Kennedy says many Indigenous languages and dialects are in a critical state.

“The focus really remains today on the critical need to develop language speakers, proficient language speakers.”

Author Patricia Ningewance works to make sure Ojibway lives on. For over four decades, she has taught classes and written 14 books.

In her book titled Gookom’s Language an image of Ningewance’s grandmother is depicted on the cover, to honour what inspired her work.

“It really affected me very, very positively, very profoundly,” Ningewance says. “That’s probably why I was so proud of my language because of her and my parents.”