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For more than a century, Canada’s residential school system separated indigenous children from their families and communities.The impact of this policy of forced assimilation was the devastation of communities from coast to coast to coast. Broken people, broken families and broken communities are the legacy of this brutal practice.
One of the most tangible expressions of culture and group identity is language. Knowing one’s ancestral language has been shown to increase self esteem, health and well-being in children and adults.
The daily loss of the older generation makes the task of saving and re-teaching these languages a critical one. We are partnering with ICA Canada and Mishko Bimaadziwin on a pilot project working with young indigenous children to rebuild the use of languages.
As part of the project, we will:
- Create new curriculum, programs and training models to support indigenous language development.
- Hold language learning events with Indigenous children and families in their home communities.
- Provide training, work materials and support to program staff, family members and community leaders.
- Increase knowledge, confidence and expertise in using language resources to implement new programs.
How you can help
Support our work by making a donation today.
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“When you take away a child’s language, you take away their identity. We need to give them back their identity."
~ Freda McDonald, Ojibway Elder and Residential School Survivor
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