Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 08/01) - In December 1999, Eva Aareak became Nunavut's official languages commissioner. In the midst of preparing the office's first report for a full year, she paused to reflect on Inuktitut and the challenges facing the language.

Languages commissioner Eva Aareak says that, while Inuktitut is one of the healthiest indigenous languages in the world, she worries students don't receive enough instruction. - Kevin Wilson/NNSL photo

News/North: For starters, you've taken time out during a busy period in the year. Do you want to talk a little bit about that first?

Eva Aareak: Yes. Last year, because our office sort of started in mid-stream of the annual cycle, we were only able to produce four months worth out of the whole year. Now this year, we're doing a full year's report. One of the major activities that we did this year was the survey of the language services among all the 10 departments of the government and the legislative assembly, as well as the boards and agencies of the government of Nunavut.

We inherited the Language Act from the government of the Northwest Territories, but the government of Nunavut did not inherit the policies to implement the Language Act.

Therefore, it was necessary for my office to take a good picture of what the language issues are, because of the fact that the government doesn't have a policy to follow, so it was an interesting exercise. I'm assuming the language policy will be developed along the same lines as

N/N: Following division, the number of official languages dropped from 11 to four. In what condition are those languages in terms of people being able to receive services in Nunavut now?

EA: Technically, we have three official languages. Innuinaqtun is a dialect, but the difference in that is that their writing is different. The rest of Nunavut, the eastern part including Kivalliq, has dual writing, which includes syllabics and Roman orthography. In two communities, Cambridge Bay and Qurluqtuq, they only have the one writing system, which is the Roman orthography.

Anyway, the three languages that we are working with that the government is supposed to be delivering are Inuktitut, English and French. Right now, most of the documents that are going out to the public -- I'm not saying all of them -- we've discovered that there are some documents that are going out to the public that aren't being translated when they should be. So in terms of providing services in Inuktitut and English, it's not that bad. In terms of providing services in Innuinaqtun and French, it's not as good, so that is an area where the government will have to figure out how they are going to address that. There are various factors that come into play in terms of the lack of translators and they say the lack of money.

N/N: On a personal level, how does one become a languages commissioner?

EA: Well, when the language commissioner position opened, there was a competition open to the public, so whoever was interested in the position would apply and go through the interview process. That's how I came to be here.

N/N: And what was it that interested you in languages in the first place?

EA: Oh, I've always been interested in language. Specifically the language that we used in the North. I've worked in the Department of Education, dealing with language issues ... I worked as a journalist at the CBC covering in the Inuktitut language, so it's my personal interest that prompted me to express an interest in the position.

N/N: There are many languages across the world that are in danger of dying out. Do you feel concerned that's a fate that could befall Inuktitut?

EA: No, I'm happy to say Inuktitut is one of the healthiest aboriginal languages. It's in the top level. But there is a "but" to that. If we don't do anything about our own language now, if we don't start promoting, if we don't start using it as much as we should, especially at the high schools, and schools in general, we will be in the same situation as languages that are struggling to be revitalized. We don't need to spend so much time revitalizing the language that we speak right now. Our language is very vibrant at this point.

N/N: What do you attribute that to?

EA: We are a very young government. Almost everyone in the Northern Inuit communities, 30, 40 years ago, was speaking only Inuktitut. There was very little English, so Inuktitut was the language of the community. So it's been over the last 30 or 40 years, with the influence of the outside world, with TV and media, and government administration. Once it started to infiltrate into the communities, it started to change. Even within the last several years, in larger centres if you are walking along and you come across some young people, you will find that English is spoken in some areas, especially in large centres like Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay.

The Inuktitut language is eroding. It is also eroding in the smaller communities, but not as fast as the larger centres. Of course, Inuktitut language instruction is carried out up to Grade 3, and that is helpful. In fact, I've heard parents and grandparents say that their child writes better than they can. But beyond Grade 4, I'm very worried about our young people not receiving enough Inuktitut instruction. Not learning enough Inuktitut writing skills, composition, literature in their own language. In high school, it's almost non-existent, and I am very concerned about that....

The government of Nunavut is saying that by the year 2020 Inuktitut will be the working language of the Nunavut government. If proper Inuktitut is not taught, I don't know what the situation will be.... The Bathurst Mandate states that they want to have a fully bilingual society in the years to come. How is that going to be met by the government of Nunavut? Are we to rely on parents, who are themselves very busy?

Let me go back a little bit, back to teenage years. At the elementary level Inuktitut language instruction is carried out in the schools up to grades 3 and 4, sometimes Grade 5. But very few high schools will offer Inuktitut at the high school level. It's treated as a subject area.

Teenagers are very busy. You know, they have sports to attend to, they have part time jobs, they have their own group to hang out with and they're out there in the community, but not everyone goes home and is immersed in Inuktitut. So that's why I'm saying that education will play a very important role in enhancing and preserving.

N/N: As language commissioner, would you like to see it so that Inuktitut is the language of instruction from kindergarten all the way through to the end of high school?

EA: I want to see high school graduates fully bilingual. English, Inuktitut, and if they're so interested or their parents are interested, in French. I mean, there's nothing wrong with learning more than two languages. In North America, we have a hangup.

N/N: And what's that hangup?

EA: The general feeling, I think, is that, "Oh, it's so hard to learn another language. I can't do that." But look at some of the European communities. They speak three, four, even five different languages. It's nothing for them. I think we have to break ourselves away from that barrier.

N/N: As someone who has spent time providing services essentially to the public in Inuktitut, whether it's as a broadcaster, or in other ways, what is it you love the most about the language, aside from it being your mother tongue?

EA: You know, because I am so immersed in it, I've never thought of it in those terms. Your own language is your sense of pride, your sense of identity, your sense of well-being. It's a whole part of who you are, and it's part of your culture. That's one of the reasons that Nunavut was created -- the population was 85 per cent Inuit heritage, therefore why not make the Inuktitut language to mean where you are, who you are?