The Future Speaks: Celebrating Growing First Nations Language Fluency Across Generations to Mark National Indigenous Languages Day.
National Indigenous Languages Day
In celebration of National Indigenous Languages Day, we are highlighting three projects supported by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council’s Language Program. Communities across B.C. are growing programs and strengthening fluency to bring their languages into their homes and daily lives.
A key goal of language revitalization is to restore the use of language through all aspects of life. First Nations communities across B.C. are working to make language accessible to all ages and meet the needs of learners at each stage of fluency. This work is challenging and requires people who are dedicated and passionate about seeing their language thrive. We raise our hands to these language champions and celebrate their good work in honour of National Indigenous Languages Day.
p̓áp̓aǧuála – ‘To work together/ Something that has been put back together’ in haíɫzaqvḷa
Building programs and spaces for future fluent speakers
FPCC’s Language Program provides critical funding and support for the haíɫzaqvḷa language in Waglisla (Bella Bella). Since 2017, the team at Haíɫzaqv Revitalization that leads this work has grown, expanding the opportunities for learners and extending the reach of the language. This has brought positive economic and cultural impacts and also built confidence for additional investors to build a new language house to support this momentum.
On November 8, 2024, FPCC staff were invited to witness and celebrate the opening of a new building to house the language program. It will hold FPCC-supported programs, including a language nest, recording studio, classrooms, archives and staff offices.
“For the first time ever, we have a recording studio for our precious Elders,” explains Ǧíwilṃ́ǧa Frances Brown (Haíɫzaqv), Initiatives Director, Haíɫzaqv Revitalization.” We’re all together in one space, and our goal is to create language families… What I feel really proud of is the fact that we’ve been able to build capacity, and with our graduates, we’ve been able to expand haíɫzaqvḷa into other programs in our community.”
It’s important to have access to language immersion for all ages and fluency levels – from young children to older speakers. Introducing language to the youngest community members and involving their families is essential to growing fluency in communities like Waglisla.
At the celebration for the opening of the new building, the little ones who have attended the language nest were the focus. As a part of cultural teachings in the nest program, they are the ones who presented the songs and dances in the Big House. Hearing young ones using their voices to speak freely in haíɫzaqvḷa brought smiles to the Elders who are watching the next generation of speakers emerge.
Speaking at the celebration event, Strategic Planner Ayla Brown shared her vision of the long-term impacts:
“Thirty students have gone through the adult immersion program to become haíɫzaqvḷa speakers. With this new space, we will have so many more. I see a day in the future when we will no longer hear English in this Big House. We will only hear haíɫzaqvḷa.”
There is much hope in the work that will happen through the programs in this new language house to see the haíɫzaqvḷa language flourish.
nʼqlʼqilxʷcnm– ‘Speaking Indigenous languages’ in Nsyilxcən
Sharing the love of language with babies, families and at work
In a small house nestled among the trees on the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB), big things are happening in the revitalization of Nsyilxcən. Making the most with little resources, a team of dedicated staff run language programs for learners of all ages.
Around the kitchen table, members of the language program staff share about the implementation of their strategic plan, which includes multiple approaches to increase Nsyilxcən fluency.
Nicole Wilson (originally from Upper Nicola Band) is the Early Years Coordinator overseeing the Nsyilxcən Language Nest Program. The program vision is ckʷukʷ ƛ̓lap il skʷkʷƛ̓ilt, nalɬ ƛ̓x̌əx̌ƛ̓x̌ap – The Sun Shines on the Fawn and the Old People. Nicole works with “new parents and people with young children to bring Nsyilxcən into their homes, into their families.” The language nest provides a space of connection and natural language learning between Elders, fluent speakers and preschool-aged children.
A year-round language nest is only a part of the strategy. The programs at OKIB have grown in leaps and bounds over the past eight years, expanding from part-time offerings to comprehensive, accessible programming. Projects include family-focused classes for new parents of preschool children, community and workplace language programs, and online “teatime” sessions connecting learners with fluent speakers. In a small office in the language house, a team of three works to digitize historical and cultural materials and upload recordings, making them available online with FPCC’s FirstVoices.com.
Danielle Saddleman (nkmaplqs, OKIB), Director of Language, Education and Culture, has seen language learning grow to over 1,000 active learners in the eight years she has been involved in language programming.
“You can’t just rely on one, two people to be doing the work. You actually need to have it everywhere,” Danielle explains. “Our goal is how do we ripple out more language culture throughout the organization.”
Skəkm̓xísaʔt, Sofia Terbasket-Funmaker (Syilx, Ho-chunk, Anishinaabe) was a participant in FPCC’s Youth Empowered Speakers Program while she was attending university to strengthen her language skills. She now provides programming for adult language learners. She’s created workplace language resources for OKIB staff and is now developing resources for family language use in the home.
Funding stability is critical for learner retention and supporting language learners to progress to fluency. The hour-long language classes Skəkm̓xísaʔt provides have been successful in growing numbers of speakers and are easy to fit into schedules. Learning, teaching and fostering love for language has shown Skəkm̓xísaʔt there’s a need to provide next-step learning opportunities.
“Our fluent speakers are all 70 or older,” Skəkm̓xísaʔt explains, and “there’s nowhere for our intermediate learners to go or to get to fluency… Shouldn’t we be focusing on our own language learning and getting to fluency, so we can be able to pass that on?” That’s the most pressing need, says Skəkm̓xísaʔt. She’s hoping for more paid mentorships such as FPCC’s Mentorship-Apprentice Program (MAP) to support the further development of proficient speakers like herself who are still learning.
The OKIB language programs are restoring connections to the language across generations, in the home, workplace and beyond.
niwh k’ah nah yelhdic– ‘Speak in our language’ in Nedut’en
Immersion learning is the path from language awareness to fluency
Brian Lacerte is from Lake Babine Nation and is learning the Nedut’en language from his mother, Rosalie MacDonald, through FPCC’s Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP). The Mentor-Apprentice Program (MAP) is a one-on-one language immersion program that helps people to become fluent speakers by bringing their language into their daily lives at home and on the land. They spend 10-15 hours each week learning through language immersion. Rosalie herself is a graduate of the Mentor-Apprentice Program, in which she worked one-on-one with Elders and family members to gain fluency in the language.
Through her apprenticeship, Rosalie was able to gain fluency and bring Nedut’en into her life and classroom as an elementary school teacher. She is now teaching the Nedut’en Language Fluency Diploma Program at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) while pursuing her PhD in education through the Language and Literacy Program at UBC.
“Seeing my mom teach in the NVIT program, her and my grandma, and hearing them do Zoom meetings every night, I’d always hear the language in my house,” says Brian. “And it’s just one thing that really spoke to me after seeing how many people were into it. I just felt the need to take it on upon myself, to teach it to my peers.”
Rosalie hopes others will see how language “can be revitalized at home, in the school or in the community.” She encourages language learning as a path towards “speaking the language and regaining our cultural identity.”
“It is our heritage and language – it is our right to speak, it is our culture, our identity,” says Rosalie.
Brian also hopes to see more opportunities for learning Nedut’en as he has felt the power of language and is inspired to bring others along with him in his language journey. “It’s really sacred,” he says. “I needed to pick up the torch and start teaching my peers.” Now he’s seen “how truly beautiful it is when people speak their native tongue.”
Dik ‘alewhlhdzin – ‘Lift each other up’ in Nedut’en
FPCC supports program funding and free open-access resources for all levels of language learning
Since 1990, FPCC has collaborated with communities working to carry their language into the future. We are a strong advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ right to live and speak their languages and practice their cultures. We provide funding, training, resources and support for language revitalization for the 36 B.C. First Nations languages.
In acknowledgment of National Indigenous Languages Day, we encourage everyone to find ways to engage with their mother tongue. Beyond funding for programs in communities, we also offer a wide range of resources, online toolkits and technology tools as well as coaching, technical training and skill development. Visit our Resource Library and Language Program page for more information.
An especially helpful resource for everyone is our guide to bringing the language into everyday use with Language For Life: Nourishing Indigenous Languages in the Home. This free resource provides tangible tips and strategies for nurturing Indigenous language use at home and steps your family can take towards building a family language plan.
For communities and language organizations engaged in program development, we have created toolkits for language planning, language nests and the Mentor-Apprentice Program at fpcc.ca/toolkits.
Language revitalization is a form of economic development for communities. FPCC funding has impacted language, culture and the national economy. A recent economic report found FPCC funding created 1,822 full-year jobs and generated $142.3 million for the national economy in 2023-24. Learn more in our recent news release: fpcc.ca/economic-impact
2024-25 FPCC language programs and their administration are funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Indigenous Languages and Cultures Program, the Province of B.C. and the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation.
Are you looking for ways to support First Nations language revitalization?
FPCC’s work is supported by the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation, an Indigenous-led, registered charity that provides funding to B.C. First Nations organizations and communities. To learn more about their work and how you can support, visit fpcf.ca/take-action/ways-to-give.
Learn More
- Language For Life
- FPCC Language Planning and Language Nest Toolkits
- FPCC Mentor-Apprentice Toolkit
- FPCC Language Program
- Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages
- FirstVoices.com
- FirstVoices Keyboards
- FPCC Economic Impact News Release
- About the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation
When possible, language recordings were shared from the public FirstVoices.com sites for haíɫzaqvḷa, Nsyilxcən and Nedut’en (Lake Babine Nation) on FirstVoices.com using Soundcite.
This story was developed with support from Indigenous writer and journalist Odette Auger.
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