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photo: Chelsea Sunday is a recent graduate of the KORLCC Mohawk language program. from pwrdf.org

On December 19, 2016 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages based on a resolution from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. As 2019 came to a close, the General Assembly declared an International Decade of Indigenous Languages to begin in 2022 “to draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize, and promote Indigenous language” and to “take urgent steps at the national and international levels.”

PWRDF launched its Canadian Indigenous Communities Program in 1997 after a series of visits and consultations, and identified the restoration of language and culture as priorities. These same priorities were also noted by the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action report.

PWRDF partner Kanien’kehaka Onkwawén:na Raotitiohkwa Language and Cultural Centre (KORLCC) in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Quebec works to preserve and strengthen the Kanien’kéha language and increase community access to culturally relevant programs and cultural workshops that promote, reinforce and increase traditions.

Read the rest of the article by Jose Zarate here