Using 2016 census data, Statistics Canada reported that between 1996 and 2016, Indigenous first-language speakers dropped by one per cent. But over the same period, there was an eight per cent climb in fluent, second-language speakers.
An article in the Toronto Star reporting on a Statistics Canada finding that more and more people are learning their Indigenous languages later in life. Excerpt:
Using 2016 census data, Statistics Canada reported that between 1996 and 2016, Indigenous first-language speakers dropped by one per cent. But over the same period, there was an eight per cent climb in fluent, second-language speakers. [...]
When her students went home and spoke Cree to their parents and grandparents, the old words would spark new life and interest in a language that some had nearly forgotten, or buried deep inside as she once had done.
“The elders and the parents, they would come to me and shake my hand and thank me for teaching their children and their grandchildren because their grandchildren were going home and talking Cree to their grandparents,” Kiskotagan said. “That makes it worthwhile, and I love teaching especially the little ones, because they teach their grandparents and their parents.”
Read the whole article.
