ALUKI KOTIERK CONTRIBUTOR OVER LANGUAGE DISCRIMINATION IN SCHOOLS.

Toronto Star: In Nunavut, education policies pose an existential threat to the vibrancy of the Inuit language right now. In today’s schools, Nunavut Inuit youth have little opportunity to learn Inuktuk – and are overwhelmingly taught only in English or French.

Unlike many Indigenous languages silenced by colonialism, Inuktuk is still very much a living language and is spoken by the majority of Nunavut Inuit. However the, the rate of Inuktuk is rapidly declining , and will be in critical danger if trends continue.

A huge part of the decline in Inuktuk is how students are educated in Nunavut. Some schools offer an Inuktuk stream up to Grade 2; most do not offer Inuktuk beyond the fourth of fifth grade. School enrolment is mandatory until age 17, requiring students to spend the day learning in a language that is not their own for years.

Nunavut Inuit don’t discount the importance of bilingualism in education, and expected graduates to equally acquire Inuktut all the way through high school. Language was fundamental to the vision of Inuit self-determination that established Nunavut, and the government of Nunavut committed to increase instruction in Inuktut for all grades by 20192020, through the enactment of the Education Act in 2008.

The government of Nunavut failed to deliver on this commitment, and recently passed legislation to drastically reduce its responsibilities to equally provide Inuktut in education. Instead, they will only offer Inuktut as a language arts class.

This weaker approach will negatively shape how Inuit reflect and experience the world. Inuktut is an inherent part of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit — traditional knowledge — as a living, breathing part of life, with the richness of advanced terminology and knowledge of Inuit connected to relationships, land and sovereignty. Education without Inuktut threatens to destroy our sense of belonging, and the ability of students to become capable, proud, productive and self-reliant young Inuit in the modern world.

Many Inuit face poverty, inadequate housing and food insecurity from the effects of colonialism. But just as dispossession of language has created disadvantage and harm, the cultivation of Inuktut can create opportunities for educational attainment and improved outcomes. Exploring Inuit world view in our own language can help youth develop cultural connections and the strength to become our next generation of leaders. For the challenges ahead, Nunavut Inuit need champions who can speak for Inuit, in our own words.

Downgrading Inuktut to an arts course is not acceptable, and is deeply disappointing. Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is bringing a systemic discrimination case against the Government of Nunavut, for the unequal manner in which students are taught Inuktut in schools.

ALUKI KOTIERK IS THE PRESIDENT OF NUNAVUT TUNNGAVIK INC., WHICH REPRESENTS NUNAVUT INUIT. THE ORGANIZATION RECENTLY FILED A SECTION 15 CHARTER CLAIM AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVU