COVID-19 and its impact on Indigenous language revitalization
Source: University of Victoria
Summary: Indigenous communities across Canada and the world are working hard to keep their languages alive and bring them back into everyday use. Most language work takes place in person, where face-to-face interaction is an important aspect of learning, teaching, and sharing between students, speakers, Elders, and knowledge keepers.
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic immediately interrupted our ability to gather in person, greatly impacting the majority of language work that previously took place at home, at school, and in the community. This overnight shift created both challenges and opportunities and sparked innovative responses from Indigenous language learners.