Indigenous language teachers are central to the reclamation of Indigenous languages. While intergenerational transmission of Indigenous languages and their use in homes is declining across Canada (Statistics Canada, 2023), increasing numbers of Indigenous second language speakers is increasingly essential for Indigenous language vitality. Effective second language learning is enhanced by teachers specifically trained in Indigenous language pedagogies. However, the assumption has long been that if someone can speak an Indigenous language, they can teach it. Opportunities to develop culturally-nourishing pedagogical skills in Indigenous language teaching have been rare. This article addresses the need for universities to be part of building the next generation of Indigenous language teachers through Indigenous language course offerings and through Indigenous language teacher training. It explores evidence of the need for Canadian universities to play a role, examines what universities have done to date, what more effective Indigenous language teacher training might look like, and what effects it could have on revitalizing Indigenous languages.
# 1. Research Question and Objectives

Our research responds to the question: How are universities in Canada supporting the goals of language revitalization through Indigenous language teacher training, and what are the opportunities for and challenges to universities being more effective in this role? Our objective is to understand the current state of Indigenous language teacher training in Canada, and lessons learned thus far, in order to support development and delivery of programs that will lead to greater community connections to the language, new language speakers, and expanded use of Indigenous languages.

## 1.1 Situating Ourselves

The co-authors include three professors at the University of Winnipeg. Lorena Fontaine is Cree-Anishinaabe and a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She serves on the Manitoba Aboriginal Languages Strategy (MALS, n.d.) and is coordinator of the University of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Languages program. Heather Souter is a citizen of the Red River Métis Nation and a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, co-founder of Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle (P2WILRC) and a member of the MALS. Shelley Tulloch is a settler scholar with long-standing relationships with Inuit communities and partnered research with Inuit organizations and governments, including on K–12 language education and culturally-nourishing professional development for Indigenous teachers. We come to this work with an appreciation of the importance of Indigenous languages to well-being. We are committed to working alongside and listening to communities, using our positions to advance the work desired by Indigenous communities, and rebalancing power while recognizing Indigenous sovereignty that was disrupted by colonization.

## 1.3 Defining Terms

Our reference to Indigenous (Aboriginal) peoples in Canada includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. The Indigenous languages spoken in Manitoba, where we work, are Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe, Ojibway), Ininímowin (Swampy Cree), Anisininemowin (Oji-Cree), Southern Michif (Métis), Dakota, Dene, and Inuktitut. The current and future language teachers with whom we are working at the University of Winnipeg currently are Anishinaabe, Ininew (specifically N-dialect or Swampy Cree), and Métis. Throughout this paper, we use the language and group labels used by the organizations doing the work and/or the authors writing about it, thus a combination of the terms and bracketed terms are used.
# 2. Research Context

In Canada’s 2021 Census, 1,807,250 people self-identified as Indigenous (Statistics Canada, 2022). Of these, 184,170 people (10%) said they learned one of the over 70 Indigenous languages in Canada as their mother tongue (Statistics Canada, 2022; Statistics Canada, 2023). Intergenerational language transmission was decimated by the federal government’s policy to eradicate Indigenous languages and cultures in the mid-nineteenth century. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015), which documented residential school experiences concluded that: “residential schools are a tragic part of Canada’s history. But they cannot simply be consigned to history. The legacy from the schools and the political and legal policies and mechanisms surrounding their history continue to this day. This is reflected in the significant educational, income, health, and social disparities between Aboriginal people and other Canadians. It is reflected in the intense racism some people harbour against Aboriginal people and in the systemic and other forms of discrimination Aboriginal people regularly experience in this country. It is reflected too in the critically endangered status of most Aboriginal languages” (p. 135).

The trauma of residential schools has an impact on the ability and willingness to transmit Indigenous languages as one’s mother tongue. Indigenous language vitality now relies on second language learning. Thirteen percent of Indigenous peoples in Canada (237,430) can hold a conversation in an Indigenous language: 28% of these (65,765) are second language learners (Statistics Canada, 2023). Second language learning is a hopeful option for Indigenous communities with the lowest numbers of speakers (Norris, 2007). As one example, the number of Michif speakers increased by 45% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, all of whom would be second language speakers of the language (Statistics Canada, 2023). In some communities, second language learners are a younger generation of speakers, creating the possibility of reinvigorating intergenerational transmission once they become parents.

Indigenous second language learning takes place through informal, non-formal, and formal opportunities, and across all ages. These include community-based programs such as language nests and Master-Apprentice (e.g., Jenni et al., 2017), online programs (e.g., Chew et al., 2023), nursery schools and head start programs, K–12 (e.g., Heimbecker, 1997; Nikkel, 2006) and postsecondary language classes (e.g., Sterzuk & Fayant, 2016). Effective Indigenous language learning programs require effective Indigenous language teachers (Marlow & Siekmann, 2013). The assumption that speakers can teach their language without training places unfair burdens on Indigenous language teachers who are expected to produce new speakers when they have no first-hand experience of class-based Indigenous language learning (Nikkel, 2006). The teachers doing the work at the heart of language reclamation often have little to no fulsome understanding of its scope and fundamentals.

Indigenous language (and culture) teachers in K–12 schools support reclamation of Indigenous educational sovereignty and create culturally-nourishing learning contexts, in addition to providing students with access to an Indigenous language (Marlow & Siekmann, 2012; McIvor & McCarty, 2017). Indigenous peoples have advocated for Indigenous languages in schools as subjects and mediums of instruction since at least the 1970s (Indian Tribes of Manitoba, 1971; National Indian Brotherhood, 1972). Some schools have initiated Indigenous mother tongue programs, immersion, bilingual or core Indigenous language as a second language programs. Universities have delivered teacher education programs targeted at future Indigenous teachers. However, these specialized Indigenous Bachelor of Education programs have not provided adequate training on how to teach Indigenous languages, nor on how to use Indigenous language as a medium of instruction (Blair et al., 2003; Johns & Mazurkewich, 2001; Nikkel, 2006; Okemaw, 2019). As a result, many Indigenous language teachers have not had the training or support they need to teach the languages in ways that will create new speakers, reclaim former domains of use, expand the language into new domains, and combat the erasure and silencing of Indigenous languages (Laurin, 2021; Okemaw, 2019; Robin & Wilson, 2021). Calls to Action #16 and #62 of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015) assert that universities have a critical role to play in supporting the revitalization of Indigenous languages through degree programs and the education of teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms. Our work examines how we can move from the identified needs to a transformative praxis aimed at revitalizing Indigenous languages (Smith, 2005).
# 3. Theoretical Framework

Language revitalization is part of broader movements reclaiming Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination (Makokis et al., 2010; Pitawanakwat, 2009). Its outcomes and processes are reflective of Indigenous rights, and are fundamentally relational. The Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan explain that according to Indigenous peoples’ creation stories, language originates from the Creator, as a sacred gift that is necessary to develop relationships with other human beings as well as the living environment (Cardinal & Hildebrandt, 2000). According to Indigenous law, languages are considered a gift from the Creator and important to the cultural identity of the people; there is therefore an implied responsibility of language transmission onto the next generation occurs (Cardinal & Hildebrandt, 2000). Article 13(1) of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes that “Indigenous peoples have the right to (...) transmit to future generations their (...) languages (...)”, and Article 14(1) affirms “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.” Subparagraph 5(b)(iv) of Canada’s *Indigenous Languages Act* (2019) recognizes immersion as a fundamental means for supporting Indigenous peoples’ efforts to reclaim, revitalize and maintain Indigenous languages, and yet Indigenous teacher training in language teaching methods has not been explicitly identified as a priority.

Miami scholar Wesley Leonard (2021) defines language reclamation work as driven by and reflective of community needs, cognizant of and responsive to the power structures and systems that have oppressed and attempted to erase Indigenous languages. Cherokee scholar Bri Alexander (2018, pp. 98–100) emphasizes that “Having access to language, then, is (…) about being in control of one’s history, present, and future in a holistic way. Language learning (…) is an act of decolonization and empowerment. (.…) [and] a reclamation of histories, values, and cultural knowledge.” Opportunities to know, learn, and use Indigenous languages contribute to individual and community well-being (Jenni et al., 2017). Language revitalization work is inseparable from the task of building right relationships with oneself, within and across communities.
# 4. Methodology

This article examines the role of teacher professional learning in Indigenous language reclamation, and more specifically the role of universities in providing such professional learning opportunities. Based on our positionality and commitment, each of the co-authors has community-anchored partnerships working toward Indigenous language revitalization. Since 2018, we have worked together and with community partners and colleagues to see how and if we can leverage our university positions to support more efficient language learning through Indigenous language programs and professional learning for Indigenous teachers. This has involved working with the federal and provincial governments, a school division, community members, and consulting documents they have produced, to understand locally-identified needs for Indigenous language teacher training. We also conducted an environmental scan of Indigenous language teacher training programs in Canada, and a literature review of promising practices in Indigenous language teacher education. We used this learning as a foundation for work with other faculty members, deans, the registrar and student advisors, consultants, and others with experience developing and delivering postsecondary courses in Indigenous languages for Indigenous language teachers, in order to develop and pilot university programs in Indigenous languages and to support Indigenous language teaching. Here, we present the results of the environmental scan and literature review. We also use self-study (Pinnegar & Hamilton, 2009) to reflect on our processes of learning and working together as scholars of language revitalization with responsibilities to communities. Our findings are discussed below, under these three headings: Evidence of the Need for Indigenous Language Teacher Training; Indigenous Language Teacher Training Initiatives at Postsecondary Institutions; and Indigenous Language Teacher Training Considerations.
# Conclusion

Indigenous language teachers, especially those who will be teaching in K–12 schools or universities, have an uphill battle to find ways to pass on their language in school settings in ways that are appropriate for their communities, nourishing to the learners, and effective for creating new speakers. The challenge is worth it. There are methodologies (task and project-based language teaching, for example) that can be culturally responsive, trauma informed and decolonizing, and which can be used in classrooms with a focus on bringing the learning to the family, extended family, and community settings and then back into schools for relational, reciprocal learning (e.g. al-Bataineh, 2020, Tulloch et al., 2022).

Universities have an obligation, under the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in order to help Canada fulfill the purpose of the *Indigenous Languages Act* and comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to develop and deliver effective Indigenous language teacher training programs. These programs must be developed and delivered with communities, with conscious attention to question and be willing to reject the hegemonies embedded in Western educational systems.

The Māori scholar of decolonizing education, Graham Smith, states that language reclamation work needs to move beyond identifying problems and needs and actually work to transform structures and systems that have oppressed and attempted to erase Indigenous languages (Smith, 2005). Universities across Canada have taken up the challenge of training Indigenous language teachers. We recognize the irony of using inherently colonial universities to train educators in Indigenous language education. In spite of this, we see the need to respond to an urgent and immediate demand to build the capacity and credibility of Indigenous language workers and provide them with at least some access to power and authority within colonial frameworks that would empower them to contribute to decolonizing Indigenous language revitalization and Indigenous language education in all spheres of life. We have a responsibility to continue to learn from each other, and to create strong working relationships between and within postsecondary institutions, Indigenous communities and organizations, and school divisions and government departments, to offer effective and meaningful Indigenous language teacher professional learning programs. Programs need to be accessible, feasible, and meet the immediate teaching needs of teachers. They also have the potential to recreate and transform the landscape and the way in which teacher training is delivered, with a view to the immediate future and beyond.

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