A group of Nunavummiut, along with Canadian and international scholars, released an open letter to the , asking for their help in addressing the language setbacks in Nunavut.

SA国际影视传媒淭wo weeks ago, in a shocking move, NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 territorial public government announced legislation to roll back Inuktut education rights until 2039. This would never have been done if Canada protected Inuktut. It would never be done to French education in Nunavut,SA国际影视传媒� states the letter.

Read:

Law student Lori Idlout, filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, Inuit-language specialist and human rights advocate Jay Arnakak, University of Prince Edward Island PhD student Naullaq Arnaquq, and Arviat Aqqiumavvik Society directors May Baker and Shirley Tagalik signed the letter.

Other signatories include language and education experts from across Canada, as well as in Greenland, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and the US.

They are all calling on the Canadian government to SA国际影视传媒渕odernize its Official Languages Act to protect and support Inuktut, the voice of Nunavut.SA国际影视传媒�

Idlout, who is scheduled for her bar exam Thursday, told Nunavut News the letter is a good way to raise awareness about the challenges of retaining Inuktut in Nunavut within a country like Canada. (Idlout took her law degree at the University of Ottawa because she could not wait for the Government of Nunavut to offer a law degree for a second time.)

SA国际影视传媒淎s Inuit, our mother tongue has always been Inuktitut and our language has been declining so rapidly. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 been a huge concern for many years. As much as we try to do, itSA国际影视传媒檚 not ever enough. There needs to be a political push to keep Inuktitut,SA国际影视传媒� said Idlout.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat political will just hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 been strong enough within the national scope, and I think thatSA国际影视传媒檚 why it feels like such an injustice within Nunavut. As the letter describes, Inuktitut is supposed to be the majority language.SA国际影视传媒�

Since the first census in Nunavut in 2001, Canada has classified the territory as majority English, minority French, and SA国际影视传媒渙ther,SA国际影视传媒� according to the news release accompanying the letter.

As NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 legislative assembly shut down for the summer, Minister of Education David Joanasie tabled Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Education Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act, an attempt to correct the failures of Bill 37. Bill 37 was the previous governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 effort to delay the right of Inuit children to a bilingual education.

But Bill 25 would see Inuktitut bilingual education rolled out to all grades by 2039.

Read:

A history of blaming parents

Idlout says her own mother, who attended residential school, was forbidden from speaking Inuktitut.

SA国际影视传媒淪he carried that, as a mother, to us, her children. For many years, she refused to speak Inuktitut to us,SA国际影视传媒� said Idlout.

It was when the family moved to Iglulik, where Inuktitut was strong in the school, even up to the higher grades, and Inuit teachers taught in the classroom, that Idlout and her siblings began to translate for their mother. Idlout says the language was strong in Iglulik, and so were the Inuit teachers.

Even so, the education system failed IdloutSA国际影视传媒檚 own children as it deteriorated over the past 20 years.

SA国际影视传媒淭here is definitely a difference in my generation and my childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 generation,SA国际影视传媒� Idlout said.

Premier Joe Savikataaq, in an interview for a separate story not yet published, stated his own education was SA国际影视传媒渟trictly only English.SA国际影视传媒� And in response to a question about low attendance levels due to a current lack of Inuktut and Inuit role models in Nunavut classrooms, he said attendance was really high in his day.

SA国际影视传媒淎ll the teachers were from the south. For the lower grades, they had Inuktitut speakers as classroom assistants SA国际影视传媒� We went to school all the time. I missed very few days of school,SA国际影视传媒� Savikataaq said.

SA国际影视传媒淣obody might want to hear it but ISA国际影视传媒檒l just say it, the parents gotta wake up their kids in the morning and send them to school.SA国际影视传媒�

But as Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk notes, this Government of Nunavut position, often repeated in 2017 and now stated again, blames parents.

SA国际影视传媒淚t blames Inuit parents rather than, as the leader of a system, acknowledging there is a systemic issue to address. And (he) uses himself as an example that SA国际影视传媒榠f I can be a success despite the system then other parents should push their children to be strong enough and resilient enough to be able to succeed despite the system,'SA国际影视传媒� stated Kotierk by email.

SA国际影视传媒淚t made me think of the media article a while back where parents were being penalized and their social assistance was being held back because their children were absent from school. Kick people down when they are already down and blame them for not succeeding in a system that is not made for them.SA国际影视传媒�

Kotierk was raised in Iglulik, where her classes in the earlier years were in Inuktitut, then switched to English in the later years. She grew up in a mixed household.

SA国际影视传媒淭he experience is most likely different for people who speak solely Inuktut at home that then have to transition to English in the later years,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

SA国际影视传媒淭he system needs to do the best that it can to set it up to empower and create environments of success for Inuit that build Inuit up and support Inuit to be the best that they can be so that as Inuit we can all contribute in a positive fashion to our society.SA国际影视传媒�

Idlout says Savikataaq may have had a great education in English where he was, but it doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 make it right to have that as a standard for other people.

SA国际影视传媒淚t doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 make it right, for other Inuit, to say, Oh, well, if our Premier who was Inuk had an English education SA国际影视传媒� It doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 make it okay for our rights to be reduced,SA国际影视传媒� Idlout said.

SA国际影视传媒淚t doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 make it right for our Inuit students to keep losing out on their education. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e so lucky in Nunavut that we actually have a really good opportunity to have a good, even trilingual, education system. If French is going to be such an important language for all of Canada for all of its lifetime then Inuktitut needs to be the same priority in Nunavut.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒楢ctual actionSA国际影视传媒� is needed

In the letter to the worldSA国际影视传媒檚 language commissioners, the signatories recall when language laws were put into place:

SA国际影视传媒淭he OLA (Official Languages Act) was recommended by the 1968 Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism to help SA国际影视传媒榙evelop the Canadian Confederation on the basis of an equal partnership between the two founding racesSA国际影视传媒� of English and French. The Royal Commission noted: SA国际影视传媒榳eSA国际影视传媒�will not examine the question of SA国际影视传媒�the EskimosSA国际影视传媒� Since it is obvious that (they)SA国际影视传媒� do not form part of the SA国际影视传媒榝ounding races'SA国际影视传媒�

This position continues today, despite rights embedded in the Nunavut Agreement, and thus Canadian legislation. The territorial and federal governments each have requirements.

SA国际影视传媒淐anadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Official Languages Act gives only two options for Nunavut: SA国际影视传媒榩rovide
opportunities for members of English or French linguistic minority communities to be
educated in their own language.SA国际影视传媒� Not both,SA国际影视传媒� states the letter.

SA国际影视传媒淐anada contributes $1.4 million annually to a French language school in Iqaluit SA国际影视传媒� for 90 students at one school; thatSA国际影视传媒檚 equivalent to $15,555 each. How much money
does Canada transfer to NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 42 other schools for Inuktut? Zero.SA国际影视传媒�

Idlout would like to see, as a result of the letter, that Indigenous languages, no matter how many there are, be acknowledged.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat they can be official languages in their regions,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

And, at home in Nunavut, Idlout wants to see the territorial government reverse the Interim Language of Instruction Act, passed earlier this year in NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 legislative assembly.

That legislation is intended to keep the Government of Nunavut in compliance with the 2008 Education Act and Inuit Language Protection Act. It expires when Bill 25 is passed by MLAs or when Bill 25 is no longer on the order paper of the legislative assembly, at which point the July 1, 2019, deadline for Inuktut education comes back into effect.

SA国际影视传媒淚 would like Bill 25 to be rejected completely because itSA国际影视传媒檚 a question of Inuit language rights. I would like for the Government of Nunavut to listen to what Inuit are saying, what Inuit have been saying, that Inuktitut is so important. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a part of our culture. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a part of our identity,SA国际影视传媒� said Idlout.

SA国际影视传媒淲e need actual action.SA国际影视传媒�

As for Kotierk, she thinks the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 public government does not have the best interest of the public majority in the centre of the decisions that they make.

SA国际影视传媒淭his is illustrated by the NTEP review, this is illustrated by Bill 25,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Read:

Nunavut News will continue to explore the implications of Bill 25 with Nunavummiut in the coming weeks.