Language

Revitalization

The best Indigenous language revitalization projects are community-driven. The following pages provide information for communities or individuals on starting the language revitalization process and planning for long-term language maintenance.

NWT Literacy Council
Aboriginal Language Resources

Research Links

How to Begin an Indigenous Language Revitalization Initiative

Adapted from The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice, edited by Leanne Hinton and Ken Hale (San Diego: Academic Press, 2001).

Language revitalization should be a collaborative effort that involves dedication by First Nations community members. Projects should be initiated by people who are interested in or active in the revitalization of a First Nations' language. One person who is dedicated to the cause can make a great difference, but so much more can be achieved once the support of the community is gained.

What can one person or a few people do to begin?

  • Find out what documentation exists about the language.
  • Get to know living fluent speakers.
  • Learn the language: learn as much as possible from the resources available if you are not already a speaker.
  • Develop learning materials that others can use to learn the language themselves.
  • Try to develop community interest through meetings or language gatherings.
  • Incorporate the assistance of a linguist to document the language, help with the interpretation of existing documents you have found, or develop learning materials.
  • You may gain community support later, so keep going! Prime movers and shakers can produce something of value that future generations may appreciate later in time.

Determining your Language Situation

Your language planning goals will depend on the situation your language finds itself in. Consider the following questions to determine what situation you are in.

  • How large is your speech community?
  • Are there still native speakers (people who learned the language as their first language)?
  • What is the age of the youngest speakers?
  • Are the speakers or potential learners geographically together, or scattered?
  • What level of political power do the speakers or potential learners have?
  • Has your nation come to see this language as the nation’s language or are the speakers a tiny minority in a multilingual nation?
  • Is the language well documented?
  • Does the language have a long history of writing?
  • What kinds of teaching and learning resources are available?
  • Are there trained language teachers who can teach the language?
  • Are there college or university courses available where the language can be learned?
  • What kind of monetary / funding resources are available for language projects? (Government / First Nations' sources)
  • What is the level of desire for language revitalization on the part of the community?