International Mother Language Day, A Wake-Up Call

February 21 is International Mother Language Day as declared by UNESCO in 1999. Its aim is to “promote the awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity” of all people living on earth. It’s a day to celebrate the language variety and diversity in the world.

The speech given by the president of the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Center, Dorothy Myo gave new meaning to the celebration. She was one of the speakers at the Future of First Nations Education Conference, which was held at the First Nations University, located in Saskatchewan, Canada, from February 19 to 21, 2013.

Conference Speech

Ms. Myo said that the existing First Nations languages in Saskatchewan today are only eight. However, the knowledge about the languages is rapidly declining among the youth, she added. One factor that leads to the decline is the influence of the environment they are in. It is the absence of language instructions in schools when they move to the cities, and with mostly a handful of the elderly managing to speak the languages, the native languages are also negligibly present in the homes. As such, the native languages are not likely to survive.

She also stressed that it is very important for the youth of today, in Saskatchewan in particular, to know their mother tongue as this will give them a solid foundation about their heritage and deepen their understanding of their own identity. And the success of the mission and vision of the International Mother Language Day now depends largely on the collective acts of the government, the native communities, the youth and the movers and shakers in society to keep the mother languages from disappearing and being forgotten.

First Nations and its Languages

The First Nations (always in the plural) are the aboriginal people of Canada, the Inuit and the Métis. Most languages of the indigenous people are spoken only in Canada and the number of speakers is dwindling. The languages with the highest number of speakers currently are “Cree” and “Anishinaabe” with a combined total of 150,000. These are followed by “Inuktitut” with speakers (29,000) that are mostly in the Northwest Territories of Canada. “Nunavut,” “Mi’kmaq,” “Nunatsiavut” and “Nunavik” have about 8,500 speakers. And it is a sad fact that French and English have become the first language of even the elderly Canadian aboriginals.

Affirmation of Commitment

For Simon Bird, who is the Vice-Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, it is not enough to just celebrate the special day with conferences and discussions. It should be about affirming the obligation and renewing the commitment to ensure that the succeeding generations would have the tools to learn their mother languages and learn their heritage by heart.

The Power of Languages

UNESCO firmly believes that the most powerful tool to develop and preserve the tangible as well as the intangible heritage of any nation or specific community is language. The international association states that everything that is being done to disseminate the mother tongues would not only encourage multilingual education and language diversity. These are in preparation to make people develop a deeper awareness of the cultural and linguistic traditions anywhere in the world, which would inspire global solidarity through dialogue, tolerance and understanding of each other’s culture and heritage.