Circumpolar Collaboration & Indigenous-Driven Initiat - PowerPoint Presentation

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Circumpolar Collaboration & Indigenous-Driven Initiatives: Arctic Indigenous Languages Project

Carl

Christian

Olsen,Inuit

Circumpolar Council

Lenore A. Grenoble, The University of Chicago and Inuit Circumpolar CouncilSlide2

The Arctic Indigenous Language Initiative:Assessment, Promotion & Collaborationa project of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council

Funded by: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, and the

US NSF # 1224305

, 

Assessing the Vitality of Arctic Indigenous Languages

, (awarded to Jim

Stotts

, PI, ICC Alaska).

The

Tromsø

Workshop was funded by the Government of Canada’s

Department of Canadian Heritage, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

and the

Government of Norway

.

The

Guovdageaidnu

2014 Meeting of

Saami

Language Experts was funded by the

Saami

Council

.

With appreciation to the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working

Group (SDWG) and all our funders for their support

.Slide3

Indigenous language rights are human rights!

Throughout the work of the project there are references to the human rights instruments applicable to the issues:

ILO

-

169

United

Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples,

from

September 2007

.

Indigenous World Summit at the UN

, September 2014. Slide4

Arctic Facts & Figuresnorth of Arctic Circle (66°33'44" N); more broadly: north of the tree line in the Northern Hemispherearea = 14,056 million km2

total population = roughly 4 million; 500,000 of these are indigenous peopleshome to some 50 or so different indigenous peoplesencompasses 8 nation states: Denmark (including Greenland & Faroe Islands), Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada, United States, Russian FederationSlide5

1

. Introduction to the ArcticSlide6

source: Barry et al. (2013),

Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, Chapter 20Slide7

Assessing, Monitoring and PromotingArctic Indigenous Languages

Assessing: The loss of Indigenous languages is an is

sue of great importance to

the

Indigenous Peoples

themselves. The members of the Permanent Participants are working with other members of the Arctic Council and government

entities throughout the

Arctic to find multiple ways to strengthen the vitality of their languages. Slide8

2. The Arctic Council

Member StatesCanada RussiaDenmark 

Sweden

Finland



USA

Iceland



Norway

Norway

Russia

Sweden

USA

Permanent Participants

Aleut International Association

Arctic

Athabaskan

Council

Gwich

’

in Council International

RAIPON: Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the NorthSaami CouncilInuit Circumpolar CouncilSlide9

Arctic Indigenous Organizations are transnational:Saami Council: represents Saami living in Norway, Sweden, Russia & FinlandICC, Inuit Circumpolar Council

: 4 branches  Alaska, Canada, Greenland & ChukotkaAleut International: unites Aleuts living in Alaska & RussiaGwich’in International: the Gwich’in Nation in Alaska & Canada (the Northwest Territories & the Yukon)

Arctic Athabaskan Council

: spans 76 communities in Alaska & Canada, representing approx. 45,000 people

RAIPON, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North

: represents 41 different groups numbering

approx

270,000 and living in 60% of the whole territory of the Russian Federation

source: http://

www.arctic-council.orgSlide10

Arctic Indigenous Languages Symposium 2008

October 2008 in Tromsø: primary objective was that of sharing lessons and best practices in promoting and supporting Arctic indigenous languages. Opened by Duane Smith, President, ICC Canada

3. Arctic Indigenous Language Vitality InitiativeSlide11

Arctic Indigenous Languages SymposiumTromsø 2008

http://arctic-council.org/article/2008/10/arctic_indigenous_languages_symposiumSlide12

The first

indigenous languages symposium was held by the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council, hosted by the Sámi Council and co-lead by the Inuit Circumpolar Council. 

The symposium was a success, and

its

recommendations were endorsed by

Senior

Arctic

Officials

.



With this background,

SDWG endorsed a Project called:

Assessing,

Monitoring and Promoting Arctic Indigenous LanguagesSlide13

Recommendations from Tromsø 2008 & Ottawa 2012:

1. Networking and Collaboration ŸShare existing research, policy and practice ŸDiscuss best practices in collaborative community-based research in Arctic contexts

Ÿ

Establish parameters for effective inter-agency and international

collaboration

2.

Framework for Assessing Vitality

Ÿ

Develop a shared, indigenous-driven and academically-grounded framework and method(s) for assessing and documenting the vitality of each Arctic indigenous language

Ÿ

Identify areas for in-depth case studies of language vitality in the Arctic and its contributing

factors

3.

Communicating and Sharing Data ŸPlan for the dissemination of reliable and comparable data for the status of all Arctic languages in a centralized, accessible format

ŸFacilitate local, regional, and international sharing of best practices in addressing Arctic indigenous language vitality Slide14

Vitality of the languages

From the beginning, all levels of indigenous peoples: elders, youth, men and women, organizations, government entities as well as international

forums.

An initial workshop was organized in

Ottawa in 2012

to map the elements of the

project.

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the main elementsPrimary goal of the project: Assessment of the current situation, so as to be able to take appropriate measures to promote language use & vitality

Three committees were established at the Ottawa 2012 Workshop: Vitality Assessment Language Acquisition



Language Policy



Background discussion established a set of principles & parameters for

the Arctic Indigenous Language Project:Slide16

Collaborations at multiple levelsinternational levelnational level

regional levellocal levelacross all of these levelsthere is work going on at the higher levels but the overall project is fed by collaborative work going on at the local levelsSlide17

Principles & parameters 1. Development, implementation and reporting of the assessment must be indigenous-driven.

2. The level at which assessment is done (language, dialect, community) must be relevant to speakers and community members as well as to policy developers and programmers.3. There is need for a framework that can account for vitality at the higher ends of the spectrum (e.g. Nunavut, Greenland)4. Assessment must be based on indigenous or community-defined factors

5. Assessment must allow for the dynamic nature of languages – new vocabulary, new domains, changing with different influences, youth and elders use it differently, etc.Slide18

Principles & parameters

6. Assessment mechanisms must account for revitalization (i.e. increases in vitality) as well as shift and loss (decreases in vitality).7. Assessment should take into account impacts and influences on language and of language on well-being.8. Terminology in assessments must be clearly defined (For example, if a speaker is assessed as being “conversant” in a language, what does that mean?)9. Community members must have opportunities to provide input into assessments and to peer review findings

10. Assessment protocols should balance the desire for details to account for complex communities with the desire for a snapshot view of vitality in each community across the Arctic.Slide19

ChallengesVast geographyCultural differences

ContinuityCollaborations are difficult to manageExpectations differLevels of commitment differConsensus-building is very time-consumingNot everyone plays niceSlide20
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Looking forward:From assessment to vitalityIn February 2015, ICC Canada organized an Arctic Indigenous Language Symposium in Ottawa. It was organized around the three core elements of the project to date:

1. Language assessment 2. Language policies 3. Language acquisition

and a Youth Symposium run by

Anguti

Johnson & Shelley TullochSlide22

Core recommendations1

. Networking and Collaboration ŸDevelop an effective system for networking ŸShare existing research, policy and practice Ÿ

Discuss best practices in collaborative community-based research in Arctic contexts

Ÿ

Establish parameters for effective inter-agency and international collaboration

2.

Framework for Assessing Vitality

Ÿ

Test and refine the Vitality Assessment Questionnaire developed by the Assessment Committee

Ÿ

Develop and implement the question bank

ŸCreate and implement a system for peer review of assessment data before it is finalized

3. Networking for resource discovery

ŸDevelop networks for identifying language resources ŸDevelop a system for the long-term preservation of these resources for future generations Ÿ

Establish a system to improve community access to language resourcesSlide23

4. Indigenous policies ŸEncourage the Permanent Participants to create their own policies for language vitality and to undertake measures to promote the vitality of Arctic Indigenous languages

ŸEstablish effective language policies at local levels ŸDetermine financial resources for implementing these policies5. Teacher training

Ÿ

There is an urgent need to develop better methods for teacher training and to create venues for longer training sessions.

Ÿ

Develop better teacher training materials and pedagogical materials.

Ÿ

In many cases, we need to improve teacher knowledge of the Indigenous languages.

6.

Community language needs

Ÿ

Each community has different needs and faces different challenges. We propose a structure to identify these needs and to find possible remedies.

ŸCommunity

members need to show a strong commitment and dedication to language learning for successful language transmissionSlide24

http://www.arcticlanguages.com/