NEȾOLṈEW̱ ‘one mind, one people’: Indigenous Language Research Network

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    Lois, règlements et politiques concernant la revitalisation des langues autochtones au Canada et à l’échelle internationale
    (Assemblée des Premières Nations, 2021) McIvor, Onowa; Chew, Kari; Hemlock, Kanen’tó:kon
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    Legislation, Regulations, and Policies: Concerning the Revitalization of Indigenous Languages in Canada and Internationally
    (Assembly of First Nations, 2022) McIvor, Onowa; Chew, Kari; Hemlock, Kanen’tó:kon
    The primary objective of this report is to compare federal, provincial and territorial legislation, regulations and policies concerning the revitalization of Indigenous (primarily First Nations) languages in Canada. The specific aims are to: 1) have the information “all in one place”, 2) draw comparisons amongst and between legislation, regulations and policies relating to Indigenous languages in Canada. The report focuses specifically on national, provincial and territorial legislation, regulations and policies and will serve as a backgrounder for advocacy towards: 1) the full implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act, and 2) provincial and territorial legislation, policies and regulations that affect or enhance the revitalization of Indigenous languages in those jurisdictions. In addition, legislation, regulations and policies held in certain foreign jurisdictions that affect or enhance the revitalization of Indigenous languages in those jurisdictions have been included to enrich the knowledge available for guiding policy and implementation practices in Canada.
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    Learning In Relation. Creating Online Indigenous Language Courses: Introduction (Part 1/4)
    (2022-12-05) Chew, Kari A. B.; Child, S.; Sammons, O.; Souter, H.
    Through this video series, learn about creating online Indigenous language courses. Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation movements connect Indigenous Nations and organizations working to support the teaching and learning of ancestral languages. Many Indigenous language learning and teaching efforts focus on home, school, and community settings, but also important are virtual spaces. Through these short videos, we provide some information to help those who are considering creating online courses for their languages.
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    Learning In Relation. Creating Online Indigenous Language Courses: Consider Different Platforms (Part 2/4)
    (2022-12-05) Chew, Kari A. B.; Child, S.; Sammons, O.; Souter, H.
    Through this video series, learn about creating online Indigenous language courses. Indigenous Peoples use language learning and teaching technologies, including online courses, to support language revitalization. To create an online course, Indigenous communities typically partner with a technology provider which creates courses on a particular platform. 7000 Languages is a nonprofit that works closely with Indigenous, minority, and refugee communities to create language courses. Since the creation of this video, 7000 Languages work has published new courses. It offers 54 courses in 28 different languages and is continuing to release new courses in partnership with Indigenous Nations and organizations.
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    Learning in Relation. Creating Online Indigenous Language Courses: Benefits to the Community (Part 3/4)
    (2022-12-05) Chew, Kari A. B.; Child, S.; Sammons, O.; Souter, H.
    Through this video series, learn about creating online Indigenous language courses. Two examples featured in this video are the Hase’ Language Revitalization Society and Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle who each collaborated with 7000 Languages to create Kwak̓wala and Michif courses, respectively. While the courses share some similar features, they are also highly customized to meet the needs and goals of the community.
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    Learning in Relation. Creating Online Indigenous Language Courses: Creating and Sharing the Course (Part 4/4)
    (2022-12-05) Chew, Kari A. B.; Child, S.; Sammons, O.; Souter, H.
    Through this video series, learn about creating online Indigenous language courses. When planning or creating online Indigenous languages courses, there are considerations both large and small. Because creating an online Indigenous language course can take anywhere from several months to several years, it is essential to plan ahead! Learn what considerations to make when creating and sharing out an Indigenous language course.
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    Learning in Relation: A Guide to Creating Online Indigenous Language Courses that Center Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being
    (2022-11-04) Chew, Kari A. B.; Calls Him, Melvin; Dormer, Jackie; Tennell, Courtney
    The purpose of this guide is to share knowledge with Indigenous Nations and organizations, technology developers, and scholars who are working to center and respect Indigenous ways of knowing and being in online Indigenous language revitalization spaces, including Indigenous language courses.
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    Persistence in Indigenous language work during the covid-19 pandemic
    (Alternative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2022-09) Chew, Kari A. B.; McIvor, Onowa; Hemlock, Kanen’tó:kon; Marinakis, Aliki
    Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Indigenous communities have persisted in Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation efforts. This research utilized a scan of social media, a survey, and interviews, conducted in the summer and fall of 2020 and primarily focused on Canada, to explore: What shifts to support Indigenous language work occurred during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic? and What were the impacts of these shifts on Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation? This article discusses six cross-cutting themes: (a) shifting and adapting language work to ensure community health and safety, (b) building capacity to make necessary shifts and adaptations, (c) facing challenges in shifting online, (d) promoting Indigenous languages online and in community, (e) creating and sharing language resources as alternative or increased activity, and (f) (re-)envisioning language education and pedagogy in a pandemic time. These themes exemplify Indigenous persistence in Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation work during the pandemic.
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    Indigenous language revitalization and applied linguistics: Paralleled histories, shared futures? What can we learn from each other? [Keynote address]
    (American Association of Applied Linguistics, 2021-03-20) McIvor, Onowa
    If one measures time in millennia, it has been a relatively short time since Indigenous languages flourished across the Americas. Indigenous communities were necessarily multilingual for purposes of trade, travel and intermarriage, and languages continued naturally through intergenerational transmission. The rise of and need for Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) is a relatively new societal phenomenon and academic field of study. As the ILR literature develops, it has become clear that ILR does not fit neatly into any single academic discipline; it uniquely borrows from and contributes to various other fields of study. Applied Linguistics is one such field, and many ILR scholars believe Applied Linguistics to be the most productive alliance to pursue. Yet, the fields of Applied Linguistics and Additional/Second Language Acquisition have developed almost entirely without attention to ILR and instead focused on immigrant populations, heritage and foreign language learners. This talk explores the similarities and important departures as well as the tensions and possibilities for stronger connections and sharing of knowledge across these fields of study, and argues for greater collective engagement in this work (McIvor, 2018). The damages done to Indigenous languages were due to colonial forces, some of which continue to this day, and many believe efforts to revive them should involve more than Indigenous peoples alone. Those working in applied linguistics hold specific knowledge and skills that could be extended to ILR to great gains. For instance, ILR has much to benefit from the decades of fruitful research on the impacts of socio-cultural contexts on language learning and maintenance, as well as optimal conditions for addition language learning. Simultaneously, Applied Linguistics could also be enriched by greater exposure to Indigenous language learning contexts and the particular teaching and learning methods have been developed therein, which often differ from those widely studied in the literature. More broadly, ILR brings a novel social justice opportunity to the field of Applied Linguistics and one that some members may find themselves being called on to contribute. I conclude with the suggestion that more purposeful work across these two fields could build capacity amongst both ILR and AL scholars. This capacity is essential to maximize the knowledge and resources available to maintain, revitalize and strengthen revitalization efforts of the Indigenous languages around the world.
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    Beyond bilingualism: Indigenous languages’ place in the lands now called Kanata [Keynote address]
    (Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL), 2021-04-29) McIvor, Onowa
    The road to the creation of language policy in Canada doomed Indigenous languages from the beginning, ignored from the time of Confederation in 1867 (Derwing and Munro, 2007). “Canada has been officially bilingual since its founding” notes Gourd (2007, p. 122). Colonial attitudes towards Indigenous people denied their involvement when language policy was being determined in Canada. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism established in 1963, through both title and intention pre-determined the outcomes in relation to Indigenous languages as its focus was limited to the “two founding races” (Innis, 1973, Foreword). From this basis of cultural and linguistic imperialism, Indigenous languages were treated as if they did not exist. Hague & Patrick (2014) explain, “indigenous language interests continued to be marginalised in policy priorities shaped by the Canadian state's colonialist and racist underpinnings…. [and] little place for indigenous languages was recognised by those with the power to shape Canadian policy” (p. 28). After more than a century of exclusion, following decades of Indigenous advocacy efforts, the Government of Canada passed an Act Respecting Indigenous Languages (Bill C-91, 2019). Now, adequate implementation and long-term, stable funding for Indigenous language education to ensure language survival is needed. With adequate resources – and efforts of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people – Indigenous languages could be restored within three generations. A national project led by Indigenous language champions, educators, scholars, and non-Indigenous allies from across Canada came together in 2016 to engage in positive action through a federally-funded, Indigenous-led language revitalization research project, entitled NEȾOLṈEW (one mind-one people). The name signifies the spirit of collaboration and unity towards the goal of Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance, embracing the diversity of languages across distinctive Indigenous communities and cultures. The overall goals of the project are to document successful language programs, strengthen leadership capacity, share knowledge, and create political pressure for federal, provincial and territorial action that provides meaningful support for Indigenous language retention, revitalization and recovery. This collaborative agenda across language groups and communities, together with settler-allies, is critical in the continuation and revival of Indigenous languages. These languages are “part of our shared heritage as Canadians” (FPCC, 2014) and therefore our shared futures and shared responsibility too. Together we must take a stand to restore Indigenous languages, the original of these lands, a place where languages should thrive alongside, not instead of each other.
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    Growing the Fire Within: Exploring Innovative and Successful Adult Language Learning Methods in Indigenous Communities in Canada and the US
    (NETOLNEW, 2021) Chew, Kari A. B.; Manatowa-Bailey, Jacob; Lukaniec, Megan; McIvor, Onowa; Linn, Mary
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    NEȾOLṈEW̱ “one mind, one people”: Relationship and community-based ILR research in Canada
    (International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation, 2021-03-04) McIvor, Onowa; Jacobs, Peter; Gould, Blair; Hill, Callie; Swallow, Tye
    We will discuss the guiding principles and governance structure of NEȾOLṈEW̱, a national research partnership of Indigenous scholars and community leaders involved in Indigenous language revitalization in Canada, and share how we work as a collective. We will also give an update on Partner and other research projects underway.
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    #KeepOurLanguagesStrong: Indigenous Language Revitalization on Social Media during the Early COVID-19 Pandemic
    (Language, Documentation and Conservation, 2021) Chew, Kari A. B.
    Indigenous communities, organizations, and individuals work tirelessly to #KeepOurLanguagesStrong. The COVID-19 pandemic was potentially detrimental to Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) as this mostly in-person work shifted online. This article shares findings from an analysis of public social media posts, dated March through July 2020 and primarily from Canada and the US, about ILR and the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team, affiliated with the NEȾOLṈEW̱ “one mind, one people” Indigenous language research partnership at the University of Victoria, identified six key themes of social media posts concerning ILR and the pandemic, including: 1. language promotion, 2. using Indigenous languages to talk about COVID-19, 3. trainings to support ILR, 4. language education, 5. creating and sharing language resources, and 6. information about ILR and COVID-19. Enacting the principle of reciprocity in Indigenous research, part of the research process was to create a short video to share research findings back to social media. This article presents a selection of slides from the video accompanied by an in-depth analysis of the themes. Written about the pandemic, during the pandemic, this article seeks to offer some insights and understandings of a time during which much is uncertain. Therefore, this article does not have a formal conclusion; rather, it closes with ideas about long-term implications and future research directions that can benefit ILR.
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    i-kiyohkātoyāhk (we visit): adapting nēhiyawēwin/nīhithawīwin (Cree) language learning to the COVID-19 reality
    (AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2020) McIvor, Onowa
    i-kiyohkātoyāhk (we visit) is a phrase which describes our experience of trying to recreate an online version of our way of life, being together in the language. The following report is our view of the ways nēhiyawēwin/nīhithawīwin (Cree) language learning has adapted to the COVID-19 reality since March 2020. Our hope is that by sharing the experience most familiar to us, the one we are living as learners and speaker-teacher, we offer a useful perspective and potential solutions or directions for others.
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    Indigenous language learning impacts, challenges and opportunities in COVID-19 times
    (AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2020) McIvor, Onowa; Chew, Kari A. B.; Stacey, Iris (Kahtehrón:ni)
    In March 2020, the COVID-19 global health crisis caused disruption to the daily lives and regular practices of most human populations. Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) work is often undertaken face-to-face and regularly includes the most elderly populations in our communities. Therefore, ILR activities that were not already online were vastly affected. The authors of this Situation Report are three Indigenous colleagues, scholars, language teachers, learners and co-activists in the on-going efforts toward the reclaiming, maintaining, and reviving of Indigenous languages across the lands now known as Canada and the USA. We describe the early impacts, challenges and foreseeable opportunities this current global health crisis brings to the critical work of continuing Indigenous languages into the future.
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    Growing the fire within: Creating new adult speakers of Indigenous languages [Video]
    (2020-10-30) Chew, Kari A. B.; Manatowa-Bailey, J.; Lukaniec, M.; McIvor, Onowa; Linn, M.
    Indigenous peoples have worked for decades to revitalize their languages. Much of the focus has been on children, but also critical are programs for the “missing generations” of adults who did not grow up with their Indigenous languages. This video discusses How can we support Indigenous adults who are becoming new speakers of their languages?
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    How is COVID19 Impacting Indigenous Language Revitalization?
    (NEȾOLṈEW̱, 2020) Chew, Kari A. B.
    A team of NEȾOLṈEW̱ researchers is storying the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous language revitalization (ILR). The pandemic that hit in March of 2020 was potentially detrimental to the great efforts from Indigenous communities, organizations, and individuals to reclaiming their languages. ILR is relational and territorially based and the majority of language work is face-to-face and therefore had to halt immediately for the safety of speakers, learners, and communities. Many did what Indigenous peoples have always done in the face of danger and adversity: adapt. Our research looked at what shifts Indigenous language learners, teachers, and speakers were making in their language work during the pandemic. This video reports findings of an analysis of social media posts from across Canada and the U.S. dated March through July 2020.
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    Indigenous Language Revitalization and Applied Linguistics: Parallel Histories, Shared Futures?
    (Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 2020) McIvor, Onowa
    Damages done to Indigenous languages occurred due to colonial forces, some of which continue to this day, and many believe efforts to revive them should involve more than Indigenous peoples alone. Therefore, the need for learning Indigenous languages as “additional” languages is a relatively new societal phenomenon and Indigenous language revitalization (ILR) an emerging academic field of study. As the ILR body of literature has developed, it has become clear that this work does not fit neatly into any single academic discipline. While there have been substantial contributions from linguistics and education, the study and recovery of Indigenous languages are necessarily self-determined and self-governing. Also, due to the unique set of circumstances, contexts, and, therefore, solutions needed, it is argued that this discipline is separate from, yet connected to, others. Applied linguists hold specific knowledge and skills that could be extended to ILR toward great gains. This paper explores current foci within ILR, especially concepts, theories, and areas of study that connect applied linguistics and Indigenous language learning. The intention of this paper is to consider commonalities, differences, current and future interests for shared consideration of the potential of collaborations, and partnerships between applied linguistics and ILR scholars.