Language preservation to reconciliation in Edmonton

Indigenous educators and community members say language preservation is central to reconciliation and stated that revitalizing Cree, Dene, Métis and other languages needed to remain a priority beyond the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Edmonton resident Alexis Myroon says the impact of the suppression of Indigenous languages is personal. She says her family no longer speaks the language fluently after it was not passed down from her mother. “We spoke [Michif], but I lost the language because my mom doesn’t speak it well,” Myroon said.

At MacEwan University, Cree courses allow students to reconnect with their heritage. In a recent interview, former MacEwan student Zach Dafoe, who is Métis, told Edmonton Edge the classes strengthened his sense of belonging and identity.

Statistics Canada reported in the 2021 Census that 13.1 per cent of Indigenous people could speak an Indigenous language well enough to hold a conversation. This represented a decrease from 15 per cent in 2016. The data also showed that Cree, Dene and other Indigenous languages declined across the Prairies during the same period.

Statistics Canada data shows Cree speakers declined by 7.9 per cent across the prairies from 2016 to 2021. At MacEwan, educator Lindsey Whitson says reconciliation cannot be reduced to one perspective. Whitson, a librarian at the kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre, says that the work requires including multiple viewpoints.

Dafoe says MacEwan University has made progress through Cree language programming, but that the efforts represent only a beginning. He says language preservation remains central to reconciliation and cultural continuity. MacEwan’s Indigenous Studies also offers courses such as Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Society, Indigenous Worldviews and Indigenous Research Methods.

Meral Ciplak

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