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IQALUIT
It has been forty years since one of the founders of the Inuit Tapirisit of Canada, Noah Qumak, warned Inuit ways, culture and language would disappear without political mobilization.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. vice-president Jack Anawak discusses NTI's Annual Report on the State of Inuit Culture and Society Oct. 12. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

All these years later, it seems not enough is being done to ensure the Inuit languages of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun survive, according to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.'s Annual Report on the State of Inuit Culture and Society, released Oct. 12.

"This report showcases the urgency of the efforts required for the promotion and protection of the Inuit language in Nunavut," NTI president Cathy Towtongie told media on Oct. 12.

The report's writers see three challenges: making Inuit language "cool" among youth, promoting language learning and use at home and developing a bilingual education system from kindergarten to post-secondary.

The preservation of language and culture, the report states, starts at home. If young people don't view Inuit languages as "cool," the report states, English will continue to dominate in use among youth. As most of Nunavut's population is young and many are having children of their own, the report notes, it would be easy for the dream of a bilingual society to disappear if there are not enough educated Inuktitut- and Inuinnaqtun-speaking professionals and leaders in education and government.

"If you go to Quebec, the working language is French," Towtongie said. "In Nunavut, the working language is English. By 2020, if we're going to strategize, we want to see the working language Inuktitut, and look at the examples of the Inuit of Greenland and the Maori."

Calling for laws that are enforceable, Jack Anawak said the Government of Nunavut needs to take the lead in making Inuktitut a true official language.

"It's not acceptable today for our unilingual elders not to be able to speak their language if they have a message or demand from the government and the person at the other end does not have the capability to speak Inuktitut," he said.

The decrease in use is a concern, the report's writers say; the proportion of Nunavummiut able to hold a conversation in an Inuit language dropped to 91 per cent in 2006 from 94 per cent in 1996.

From 2001 to 2006, the use of an Inuit language as the predominant tongue spoken at home dropped in favour of English. While only 26 per cent of Nunavummiut speak English as their only mother tongue, English is "the language most spoken at home by 44 per cent of the population," the authors write.

The Inuit language is experiencing a "dangerous erosion" in the Kitikmeot region. Inuinnaqtun is at risk as only 12 per cent of the residents of the Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk, where the dialect is predominant, cited Inuinnaqtun as their first language; less than two percent speak it most often at home.

Home-use of Inuit language is at less than 20 per cent in Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Kugaaruk, Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit.

For the most part, English is taking over in homes across Nunavut. It is, after all, the language of commerce, technology, and popular media, the report states.

To reverse the trend, popular media will have to be created for the young target audience, including Inuit language children's books, comic books, youth and adult novels, radio and television programs; at the same time, complementary Internet media will have to be created, the report notes. The government's mission to have a bilingual education system by 2019 will be for naught if the language dies outside of the classroom, it says.

For Towtongie, the federal government needs to make a serious commitment to the language in support of the territorial government's Inuit Language Protection Act, Education Act, and Official Languages Act.

"What does it say when in Nunavut today," asked Towtongie, "the federal language promotion funds allocate $4,460 for every French language speaker and $53.71 for each Inuit language speaker? We're not trying to diminish the language of the French speaker, but we want the same level of equality for the Inuktitut speaker."

"I just arrived from New Zealand to see how the (Maori) language operates," Towtongie said. "The Maori children can choose to take their exams either in English or their own language. The resources from the federal government are not there for the Inuit language."

Now that the report is complete, it will be tabled at the Nunavut legislative assembly, as well as at the federal level by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

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