Library and Academic Services: Indigenous Languages: Getting Started

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INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES GUIDE

Indigenous languages matter for development, peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Languages play a crucial role in the daily lives of people, not only as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development, but also as a repository for each person’s unique identity, cultural history, traditions and memory.- UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages (2019)

This guide is here to help you learn about Indigenous languages. It provides links to books, online books, articles, collections of information, videos, websites, and other resources all about keeping these languages alive.

Indigenous Languages Act

Indigenous Languages Act - Bill C-91 (2019)
Bill C-91 passed royal assent on June 21, 2019. In which, the Government of Canada recognizes that Indigenous peoples have rights related to Indigenous languages. The enactment also establishes the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. Generally, the purpose of the act is to support and promote the use of Indigenous languages and efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages. This act is a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action numbers 13 to 15; and contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to Indigenous languages.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (2015)
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007)

Keywords

Use the following keywords to get started searching this subject area:

Algonquin languages
Anishinaabemowin
Anisininemowin
Athabaskan languages
Atikamekw
Blackfoot
Cree
Dakota
Dene (Denesuline)
endonym
exonym
Gitxsan (Gitksan)
Haida
Inuktitut (Inuktituq)

Ininímowin
Inuit languages
Iroquoian languages
Kutenai
Kwakiutl (Kwak'wala)
language family
language preservation
language revitalization
language revival
linguistic revitalization
Michif
Mi'kmaq
Mohawk
Montagnai

Nēhinawēwin
Ojibwe (Ojibwa /Ojibway)
Oji-Cree / Ojibwe-Cree
Salish languages
Shuswap (Secwepemctsin)
Siouan languages
Stoney
Tlingit
Tsimshian languages
Wakashan languages