At their Annual General Meeting, NTI calls on governments of Canada and Nunavut to increase their efforts to strengthen Inuktut in Nunavut Territory
NationTalk: Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.,Rankin Inlet, Nunavut – The Membership of the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) Annual General Meeting (AGM) passed a resolution calling on the governments of Canada and Nunavut to take legal, policy and financial action to reverse the decline of Inuktut speakers. Inuktut encompasses the dialects of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun spoken in Nunavut.
NTI also calls on the governments to take all measures necessary to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the UNDRIP Act, the Indigenous Languages Act, the Nunavut Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act and to give meaning to the commitments made to collaborate in a respectful, open and transparent way to strengthen the use of Inuktut and increase the provision of programs and services in Inuktut in the Territory.
Nunavut is the only federal jurisdiction with a majority Inuit population and where Inuktut, an Indigenous language, is spoken by most of the population. Despite the best efforts of Inuit to speak Inuktut in the home and pass the language to the next generation, the use of Inuktut in Nunavut and across Canada is in decline. If the current rate of decline continues, it is anticipated that by the year 2050, Inuktut will be spoken at home by only 4% of Inuit in Nunavut. This is, in large part, because the dominance of English and French is overwhelming the efforts of Nunavut Inuit.
Stopping and reversing the decline of Inuktut is consistent with the spirit of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and an opportunity for the government to showcase its resolve to take solid, affirmative steps to remedy and reverse the disastrous impacts of Canada’s past and current colonial policies including residential schools.
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Contact:
Kevin Kablutsiak
Director, Communications, NTI
KKablutsiak@tunngavik.com
Tel: (867) 975-490
Toll-free: 1-888-646-0006