Canada History Week 2021 Learning Tool

1. Watch the Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk video and read her biography on The Canadian Encyclopedia . 2.Read the Indigenous Language Revitalization in Canada article. 3. In small groups, or as a class, discuss: • What role did Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk play in preserving and revitalizing her language? • What impacts do you think a loss of language has on Indigenous peoples and their cultures? • Why is it important to preserve and teach Indigenous languages? • Think about your own experience with Indigenous languages – do you know any words in an Indigenous language or that are derived from an Indigenous word (e.g., qayaq [kayak])? Do you know any place names that are derived from an Indigenous language? Have you ever read a book, watched a show, or listened to music that was in an Indigenous language? RESISTANCE AND RESURGENCE: LILLIAN’S STORY Lillian Elias is a language advocate and former teacher. She grew up in a family of 12 children who depended on the money they received from the federal government’s Family Allowance program to survive. The only way to ensure the continued delivery of that allowance was to have at least one child institutionalized at an Indian Residential School. In 1950, when Lillian was about eight years old, her parents took her to Immaculate Conception Residential School in Aklavik, Northwest Territories. While there, she was forbidden to speak her own language — she witnessed her friends being beaten for uttering even one word in Inuvialuktun. When she returned home a few years later, she realized that communication had broken down: Elders and children no longer understood each other. Lillian became determined to prevent Inuvialuktun from being lost in her community. She became a translator in the summers to maintain the ability to speak her language fluently and to help those in her community who didn’t understand English. After leaving residential school, she began teaching Inuvialuktun to young people. Because of her, many Inuvialuit grew up with a better understanding of their Indigenous language, who they are, and where they come from. Activity 3.2 continued → 9 Activity 3.1 - Video Discussion: Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk & Indigenous Language Revitalization Activity 3.2 - Lillian Elias: Language Preservation and Residential Schools