Manitoba professor aims to preserve Indigenous language

A University of Manitoba professor is working to keep Indigenous languages alive in the province.

Ken Paupanekis, a Cree language instructor, teaches a course about the language at the university.

“It’s overlooked so often,” he said. “When Europeans first arrived, the Native languages had a major role in the communication aspect. When you have two languages that meet, one always dominates the other, and the Native languages dominated for the first century or so.”

English and French eventually supplanted Indigenous languages, and the residential school system in Canada worked to strip Indigenous languages from young speakers. Paupanekis said when he was a child, he was punished by some teachers for speaking Cree at a day school he attended.

March 31 marks National Indigenous Languages Day, which is aimed at bringing awareness and preservation of Indigenous languages before they’re lost forever.

Paupanekis said in recent years, there has been great interest in his Cree language course.

“Many people didn’t realize that they had Indigenous ancestry, or if they did, they suppressed it,” he said. “Now, there is a lot of pride in their ancestry.

“I’ve had a few students come and tell me that they found out their granny was Cree, and they’re ashamed they didn’t know, and now they want to go learn about that part of their family.”

Indigenous Languages of Manitoba Inc. is planning several events and initiatives through the year to promote Indigenous languages, including a billboard campaign, immersion camps and fundraising for an Indigenous Language centre in the province.

-With files from CTV News' Katherine Dow