Uqausivut atausiujjutivut – Our language brings us together

February 9, 2010

Update from Lucie Idlout

Today was the first official day of the Nunavut Language Summit here in Iqaluit. I was with Zacharias Kunuk and Qajaaq Ellsworth. There were over 240 delegates, mostly Inuit, with representatives from all the regions in Canada as well as Greenland and Alaska. You could feel the determination and the pride in the room as everyone spoke to what was important to them and made suggestions on what needs to be done.

Everything on the agenda was amazing. I hung on every word spoken and didn’t want to miss anything.

Opening ceremonies began with words by our Premier; Eva Aariak, the Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth; Louis Tapardjuk, and Graham Fraser, the federal Commissioner of Official Languages, but no one spoke with as much passion and honesty as Tommy Akulukjuk, the head of National Inuit Youth Council who spoke to the issue of Healing the Past. He said he was familiar with the new legislation that was passed to protect Inuktitut in Nunavut today, but went on to say the legislation is not alive. Paper is not alive. We are alive and only we have the ability to keep Inuktitut alive.

In the home, in the home, in the home!

The resounding statement that was continually made was that if Inuit are going to promote, preserve and protect Inuktitut, it must begin in the home. Jose Kusugak told a packed audience during general comments at the Astro Theatre that he has an unwritten rule in his home and that is - if he is spoken to by a family member in any other language than Inuktitut he will not respond. That makes perfect sense to me.

Other speakers at different points in the day also reinforced the need to ensure that we gather information from our elders since they are our most important resource and since the level of Inuktitut being spoken today is not up to the level that it once was. We don’t speak Inuktitut at our age at the same level our parents did when they were the same age. An individual also said today that we won’t lose Inuktitut but we will lose aspects because Inuktitut is an evolving language and like any other language it changes with time.

I think the most important lesson I learned is that the power of language is diminished when people are put down. It works in a couple of ways; when Inuktitut becomes a secondary language to the “dominant” English, there is a shame factor involved and a dis-ease with using your mother tongue which began with residential schools.

The other scenario is with those who are shamed while learning or re-learning Inuktitut and making mistakes. It is discouraging when anyone points their finger and laughs at you for making a mistake in any scenario, and more so with language when you are proud to be Inuk.

In the end, it’s healthy to meet, especially to discus issues-in-common and it’s healthy to understand the history of our issues. One elder said that if we don’t start acting on what we know now, we will forever have language summits rather than making the changes we know we need to make. I am certain, based on their work today, a 100% Inuktitut speaking work force by 2020 is more likely than it was yesterday coupled with full-time K-12 Inuktitut education. So many meaningful and important things were said today… and all in Inuktitut.

Qujanamiimmarialuk!

Lucie-mik.