Calls to Action: Language and Culture

Calls to Action: Language and Culture
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Multimodal Report:
Calls to Action: Language and Culture Number 14
Since 1880s, Aboriginal children in Canada have faced forceful eviction from their homes and placed in Indian Residential Schools (Rice, 2011). At the schools, students were prohibited from speaking their native languages and practicing their culture. Instructions and daily school activities were in English or French (Bak et al., 2017). As a result, thousands of students were deprived of learning and speaking their first language within their community. Surviving students testified about the widespread neglect, starvation and excessive physical and sexual abuse as well as student deaths caused by these crimes (Davis, 2018). Estimates show that sexual and physical abuse rates exceeded 75% in some schools (Rice, 2011). Shockingly, the Indian Residential Schools were developed and operated by state and the church to destroy native cultures and communities in Canada in the name of civilizing and Christianizing First Nations.
The creation of residential schools caused incalculable harm until 2008 when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada was formed to document the history and the long-term effects of the Canadian Indian Residential Schools on aboriginal students and their families (Draper, 2016). The emerging and compelling desire of Indigenous Canadians to seek healing and reconciliation influenced the formation of the TRC. To achieve its objective, the commission provided a forum and a healing process through truth telling, reconciliation and acknowledgement of the injustices and harms caused to survivors of Residential schools (Giustini, 2017).
In 2015, the TRC of Canada held its closing ceremonies where it released 94 calls to action concerning reconciliation between Canadians and Aboriginal people (Niezen, 2017). These calls to action provide solid steps that Canadian government, Indigenous people, educators, churches, civil society organizations, and business sectors can take to restore the legacy of the residential schools and improve the reconciliation process in Canada (Canada.ca). This report focuses on the 14th call to action on Language and culture by elaborating the significance of the Indigenous language Act in safeguarding and promoting the indigenous languages in Canada.
Call to Action 14
The call to action 14 of the TRC of Canada called on the federal government to enact an Aboriginal Language Act, which supports the reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous languages in Canada (Deer, 2019). This act prevents the endangerment of aboriginal languages in Canada. Research shows that Canada has about 70 endangered languages which the commission aims to protect by establishing Aboriginal language Act (Davis, 2018). The commission calls upon the federal government to enact an Indigenous Language Act that incorporates five basic principles.
The first principle holds that Aboriginal languages are a significant and valued element of Canadian culture and society (Canada.ca). The second principle states that treaties reinforce Aboriginal language rights while the third principle requires the federal government to pr...