No new funding for Indigenous languages in B.C. leaves teachers scrambling for resources

Indigenous language teachers across B.C.were alarmed to learn earlier this year there would be no renewal of funding from the provincial government.

Community members say they are now scrambling to come up with the resources to keep their languages alive.

"Time is really of the essence,"saidtaaisumqa, also known asDawn Foxcroft, a language coordinator at theTseshahtLanguage House in Port Alberni, B.C.

"We need to do the work now," she said, noting thatthe majority of fluent speakers are now in their 70s.

Murray Rankin, B.C.'s ministerof Indigenous relations and reconciliation, confirmed thatlanguage revitalization funding was not renewed in 2021.

"We are currently exploring funding opportunities to continue to support this important work," he said.

In 2018, the province invested $50 millionover three yearsfor Indigenous language revitalization forthe nearly 200 First Nation communities in the province.The funding was not renewed and no new funding was provided in this year's budget.

"It was really, really disappointing, since the governments have a responsibility to our communities to support language revitalization,"taaisumqa said.

Article 13 of the United NationsDeclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states thatIndigenous peoples have the right to revitalize their traditional languages.The B.C. government passed UNDRIP into law in 2019.

'We don't have time to wait'

When Xakuubee, also known as Sarah Tom, heard that her community was not able to access funding to revitalize her Ditidaht language she was worried.

"We actually had a huge cutback this year and that brought some work hours down and hirings werecut back," she said.

There are only twolanguage speakers in herDitidaht community, so language revitalization is key.

"We're keeping our language alive and it's an urgent matter," she said.

She said the funding is important to pay people to create curriculum,teach the language and create platforms where online learning can happen.

But lack of funding isn't the only barrier her community is facing when it comes to languagelearning and accessibility.

Ironically, like other Indigenous peoplein the province, Xakuubeewas not able to register her community's Ditidahtlanguage learning societyin theDitidahtlanguage since the B.C. government's computer system doesn't recognize non-English or non-French text characters, many of which are seen in Indigenous languages.

The only way to get around the barrier is to anglicize an Indigenous word.

While B.C.'s Ministry of Citizens Services says it'sworking on a solution to the problem,it could take two or threeyears.

"We don't have time to wait for the government to catch up to us,"Xakuubeesaid.

Her school haschosen tomodifyits Dididahtname and anglicize it by replacing a glottal stop with a number 7, so it readsditidaqiic Cicqi7, instead ofditidaqiic Cicqi, which the government computer system does not recognize.

An Indigenous personcan'tregister their childin an Indigenous name on their birth certificate in the province because of the same computer issue.

Language learning asa revolution

While there ishope of further funding, some saythe languagelearning modelthe government supports just isn't enough.

"In order to teach our language and create fluency, we need to teach it as immersion,"says Simlax, also known as Michele Johnson, who is the executive director, lead language activist and teacher attheSyilx Language House.

She believes Indigenous people must create their own schools since most elementary, secondary and even post-secondary schoolsrarelyofferIndigenousimmersion programs, raising Hawaii as an example.

"Theygot five people fluent, andthen those five people started a revolution, withtheir own daycares and schools," Simlax said.

"Andnow they have a really successful movement of people in Hawaii and a whole bunch of schools, withthousands of children now being raised in Hawaiian," she added.

She calls it a revolution in language revitalization that requires three steps. She says the first step is funding andencouraging learners to go through a 1,600-hour language learningprogram.

The second step, she says, is surrounding language learners in full immersion environments in universitiesand high schools.

And the third step, she says, is to create the political will so that institutions aspire to be taken over by fluent speakers.

"It's our responsibility to build that flame, to build that fire and carry it forward even further," Simlaxsaid.

"The governments have a responsibility to our communities to support language revitalization."