1. Inuit Language Loss in Nunavut: Analysis and Forecast
Ian Martin, Glendon College, York University, Toronto

2. Why Nunavut? “We were losing our language”
‘The whole reason why the land claims took place, because we were losing our language” – Paul Quassa, 2003.

3. Nunavut homes are becoming more English
Number of homes where
Inuktut is mostly spoken: ,250 (57%) 15,695 (54%) 16,595 (52%)
English spoken mostly in the home has increased from 28.5% in to 46% in 2011
So, the number of homes in which English is the language most spoken is almost the same as the number of homes where Inuktut is the most spoken.
The language of the minority (English) will soon become the language of the majority of Nunavummiut homes.
What does this mean?
In very general terms, it seems that English is entering the home as a language between the generations or as a language of the young who attend school. Families which used to use only Inuit Language between themselves now use both.
The home, which used to be a place where Inuit Language was normally transmitted from parents to children, is tending to be a place where bilingual parents (perhaps dominant in Inuit Language) speak to bilingual children (dominant in English). And certainly, there are monolingual grandparents who find it difficult to communicate with their grandchildren.

4. How fast is Inuit language loss happening?
The number of Inuktut mother tongue speakers has dropped from 88% in 1996 to 80% in Use of Inuit Language in the home has dropped from 76% in 1996 to 61% in 2011.
It’s important here to note the difference between the # who have Inuktut as MT, vs how many are using it in the home—the ‘gulf’ between the two is widening
--this is troubling
-it usually indicates that the young are not using the language in the home; that there is an intergenerational language loss
When you see that home use of the language is slowly declining, at the same time that the government has not promoted Inuit Language in the schools, the future of the language is not hopeful.

5. Inuit home language loss = 12% (1996-2006)
“The statistics clearly show Inuit language use and transmission is on a continuing decline. Most troubling is that Inuit language use in the home dropped by 12% between 1996 and 2006.”
-Sandra Inutiq, Nunavut Language Commissioner
Rest of her remarks:
“ Our efforts since the creation of the territory have not reversed the huge force of past assimilation policies that continue to have hold. Nunavut needs to make a much more aggressive effort to reverse language loss.”
HOW TO LOSE A LANGUAGE??
It’s called “language shift” – from Inuktut to English.
This has already happened in Inuit Nunangat:
in Inuvialuit communities (only 20% of Inuit speak the language),
in Kitikmeot (49% of Inuit speak the language)
in Nunatsiavut (only 20% speak the language).
It hasn’t happened in Greenland , and is much less in Nunavik
In those
LANGUAGE SHIFT – choosing to use English in place of Inuktut.
- If the Inuit follow this path, the Inuit would shift from Inuit Language to English, for example across four generations:
A generation (1) which speaks only Inuit Language would be followed by a generation (2) which speaks mostly Inuit language but some English, and they would be followed by a generation (3) which speaks mostly English but some Inuit Language, which would be followed by a generation (4) which speaks only English and a few words of Inuit Language.

6. How long will the Inuit Language last in Nunavut?
If the home language loss rate is 12% per decade, and
If 52% of Inuit spoke Inuktut in the home in 2011
At this rate, by 2051, the Inuit language will be spoken at home by only 4% of Inuit in Nunavut
And if this trend continues
In as little as 35 years

7. Alternate loss rate (15% per 15 years)
If the home language loss rate is 1% per year (15%, )
And 52% of Inuit spoke Inuktut in the home in 2011
At this rate, by 2061, the Inuit language will be spoken by only 2% of Inuit in Nunavut
And if this trend continues
at this trend, Then in as little as 45 years……

8. The Laws to protect Inuktut aren’t working
2008: three GN laws were passed to protect Inuktut as the main language of instruction in the schools from K to 12, by 2019
The Department of Education proposes to delete the 2019 deadline
the Education Act, the Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act.
These acts gave Nunavut the best legislation in Canada to protect and promote an Indigenous language.
Nunavummiut expected that:
- Inuit teachers would be developed and hired so that Inuit Language as the main language of instruction in the schools from K to 12
- Curriculum material would be produced, reflecting the government’s commitment to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
- there would be a plan to fulfil the promise to graduate students strong in both Inuit Language and English
None of these hopes were fulfilled
BUT: in many schools, Inuit Language isn’t even taught up to Grade 3.
THUS the 2019 deadline will not be met;
The Education Act recognized the right of Inuit parents to have their children educated in Inuit Language and promised that Inuit Language would be the language of instruction in K-3 by and that, by 2019, all the grades up to Grade 12 would have classes taught primarily in the Inuit Language.
But instead of the 300 Inuit educators required, the GN continued to hire southern teachers who speak only English
The result: Inuit Language is limited to the first three grades of primary school. The students are quickly transitioned into English and very little Inuit Language is taught after Grade 4.
Many students drop out of school and the graduation rates are low.

9. The GN has not implemented Inuit language education
In many schools, Inuit Language isn’t even taught up to Grade 3.
There are supposed to be 85% Inuit teachers in the schools; but the Department of Education has not trained and hired them
The result is that the Inuit Language, rather than growing in strength after the creation of Nunavut, is becoming weaker.
In 2013, the Auditor General of Canada wrote a report saying that the department of Education was not meeting the Act’s bilingual requirements, which are the cornerstone of the Act.
Also, the report said:
- only 1 in 5 schools visited in 2013 complied with the bilingual requirements which were supposed to be in place by 2010
-the Department doesn’t have a clear idea of how many Inuit teachers are required to meet the objectives of the Act

10. How to measure the strength of a language? UNESCO 2015
SAFE VULNERABLE/UNSAFE DEFINITELY ENDANGERED SEVERELY ENDANGERED CRITICALLY ENDANGERED EXTINCT
UNESCO (he United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has studied the indigenous languages of the world, based on a six-level classification according to intergenerational transmission
the language is used by all generations, in all places in community.
most children speak the language, but only in the home, or in limited places in community
children no longer learn the language at home as a mother tongue. Parents and grandparents use it among themselves
grandparents speak, parents understand it but do not speak it to children or among themselves
only grandparents and great-grandparents speak, and partially and infrequently
there are no speakers left

11. Inuktut = Vulnerable/Unsafe
Inuinnaqtun = DEFINITELY ENDANGERED Inuktut (elsewhere in Nunavut) = VULNERABLE/UNSAFE
According to the UNESCO chart …
Inuktut elsewhere in Nunavut is classified as VULNERABLE/UNSAFE
This means that most children speak the language because they use it at home, but they may not use it much in school or community. Some children use the language in all places; all children use it in limited number of places.
If children no longer learn the language at home, if parents start preferring to use English with children, the language would start to be DEFINITELY ENDANGERED.
The important thing to understand is that Inuktut is NOT SAFE, even if it appears to be OK to you in your daily life.

12. What can NTI do? What do you want the future of your language to be?
NTI’s voice needs to be heard
need to insist that the GN takes Inuit language seriously

13. What can NTI do?
Dept of Education must deliver K-12 schooling in Inuktut in all 42 schools in Nunavut
=85% Inuit teachers
=100% Inuit curriculum all grades % subjects
Demand that Dept of Education needs to immediately put enough money and political will into training enough Inuit teachers to deliver K-12 schooling in Inuktut across all 42 schools in Nunavut
Demand that Dept of Education put enough money into developing Inuit language curriculum for all subjects and all grades K-12
NTI has always expressed its concern for the fact that most Inuit children in Nunavut drop out of school before graduating.
It said in SAQQIQPUQ ( ) that Inuit society, language and culture must be entrenched as the foundation of the K-12 education system in Nunavut.
Inuit language must be the principal language of instruction for Inuit students in Nunavut schools as an inherent right.
the Department’s Policy Options document agrees with a standardized model, but offers no Inuit Employment Plan to develop the number of Inuit educators needed to carry out the Act and meet Article 23 criteria.
Department offers no plan on how to reach the Education Act’s goal of Inuit language education K-12.

14. What can NTI do?
The federal government must contribute money to support Inuktut, the language of the majority of residents. Today, it directly supports the French language in Nuanvut schools but not Inuktut.
Federal govt is paying $3m per year to support French language education in Nunavut K-12
Similar level of effort must come from Ottawa to support Inuit Language schooling K012