“Inuktut is being lost”
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk speaks before the House of Commons’ standing committee on Canadian heritage on Wednesday, Feb. 26, during hearings on Bill C-91, an Act respecting Indigenous languages. “We expect to be able to receive equitable, comparable services to other Canadians and currently we do not, even thought we’re Canadians in Nunavut,” Kotierk said. “I came here with a warning—Inuktut is being lost. One per cent per year in Nunavut. It is absolutely necessary that Inuit languages are supported and funded in an equitable and comparable fashion in Inuit Nunangat.” (CPAC Image)
Inuit have been in charge of teaching Inuktitut for many, many
years.
Stop playing political word games and do something about
improving Inuktitut.
This is why you were elected to N.T.I , remember ?
Inuktut is not lost.
It does not exist and it never existed.
Inuktut is some analyst’s idea to try to keep that western dialect on life support for a few more years at the cost of strangling Inuktitut.
If a language is important to you then use it and create things in it that will interest other people and teach the language.
Asking others to pay for some third party to teach a language to people who don’t want to learn it is wasteful – and wastefulness is not an ISV.
Even though I fully understand the concerns about losing a language, there are many other Indigenous people that face the same danger. Speaking before the House of Commons and warning about the loss of Inuktuk and referring to your rights as a Canadian makes sense in one way, but living in Nunavut and being exposed to comments that “you live on Nunavut land and should leave” seems to be the contrary. The federal government supports Nunavut with significant financial aids, with nothing in return. As usual, point fingers and blame everybody but yourself. I’m all for keeping cultures and language alive, but it has to start at home, in your own house
Having to learn all the finals and such in Inuktitut in school, it was sad to hear my former Inuktitut teacher trying to do away with Inuktitut on the radio. The ITK president is delusional for trying to get rid of it. It was sad to hear that she had to be her father’s interpreter for her children, but Inuktitut is something that all parents need to teach their children.
Inuktut is not a language. It’s just some deluded individual trying to save Inuinnaqtun. Just because hardly anyone from the Western Arctic speak Inuinnaqtun, it doesn’t mean that syllabics are to blame. I learned syllabics and will keep using it for as long as I can.
Not to keep kicking a dead horse, Some folks need to understand, when any culture goes through changes, there is some culture, language, heritage, identity etc.. lost when colonization and another prominant culture assimulattion are executed.
You can not teach at home something you have lost . Growing up, the new way (Western Culture) seemed so much better then your own so some of us wanted to become “non Inuk”, I’m hoping this statement will show the impacts changes will have on people and cultures. Apologies for rather a crude analysis of what colonization and assimulation can do to people. Recognizing what and where the changes are/were can only help a people move forward. (Example so many lost traditional skills and don’t have education get stuck in a rut. Being caught in a transition)
Language and culture cannit be legislated by central governments. Canada is too diverse for these feable and annoying laws. Could Quebec’s Bill 101 be a comprehensible law in Kuujjuack? It is in Quebec, right? We need to get off this thing, and let local municipal governments determine if language/culture needs local protection. But hey! Governments need to control the vote through the all important ‘navel’.
Kind of ironic that amidst all the talk about decolonization NTI is trying to shame the government of Canada into somehow magically saving Inuktitut.
Save us Ottawa!!!!
How do you expect them to do that Aluki? By lining your pockets with cash? Oh yea… I’m sure that will work.