A law to safeguard our language

About a 100 years ago, there were approximately 7,000 languages spoken worldwide. Now, there are only about 2,000.

The English language has dominated almost every culture around the world, including ours. We Inuit are very fortunate to be able to speak our native tongue, not many aboriginal groups still do, and it is sad to say that our language is on the verge of extinction. Unless we want Inuktitut to be a language that our children only read about in history books, we have to make the necessary changes to preserve and strengthen our language.

Quebec made a crucial step in preserving the French language when they introduced Bill 101 in 1977, the charter of the French language which makes French the “normal” language in Quebec.

Since then they have seen incredible changes, French is now the primary language for business, and Quebecers can receive all of their services in French. Bill 101 was so successful that it is now nearly impossible to obtain services in English. The best thing is that it is continually enforced, there are “French Police” that roam the cities to make sure that all businesses comply, and if they don’t then they are charged. To some it might seem extreme, but how else can you safeguard your language when there is always the threat of losing it to the English language.

I believe Nunavut would benefit greatly by adopting some of the laws that were introduced by the Quebec government. Even a law as simple as making sure that Inuktitut is prominently displayed on all government and commercial signs and publications would make a big difference, in that our language would be used in everyday life. All venues should have Inuktitut-speaking staff, and all Inuit should be able to carry out their everyday life in Inuktitut, including at their workplace.

There should also be several Inuktitut classes for people moving to the north, because instead of Inuit learning to speak English to accomodate the southerners, they should be learning Inuktitut.

In order for our language to survive in a country flooded with anglophones we must make these critical changes now, because if we wait any longer, I am afraid that it might be too late. Right now we have a very strong culture, and language, but what about tomorrow?

Jeela Maniapik
Yellowknife