The main issue I find facing indigenous people in Canada currently is the path which languages are taking. Namely, while some languages continue to be used, they are marginalized, and others simply die out to be replaced by English and with that there is also a loss of culture, of lifestyle, and of wisdom which has a lot to be offered to Canada, as well as Western society as a whole. Indigenous languages offer words and ideas which cannot be expressed in English. As well, these ideas and stories offer new ways into viewing the modern world. The modern age is attempting to leave the prejudices of the past behind, to find better, more efficient ways of doing things.
In order to understand something as it is now, it must be understood as it was. The reason for this is that part of what makes something the way it is, is that it took a unique path to get to where it is now. That seems like a convoluted way to get that point across but it is a key point. In order to understand the problems that the English language is creating now it is necessary to have an understanding of how it gained such a position of influence. England itself has several key features which when combined gave it an edge in ages past when it came to influencing the rest of the world.
The main way to transport goods and people throughout the world before the invention of the airplane was to load them onto a boat and then ship them around the world. The reason that Italy, and the Roman empire enjoyed such a grand place in the hallowed halls of history is because so much of what has been deemed as the important history is the history of Europe. Italy was placed to be able to ship its troops around far more efficiently than other groups of people in the area. When it became time for countries to voyage away from continental Europe England had an advantage in that it was an island and therefore already had a navy which they could put to use in exploration and colonization. This combined with its past further back which conspired to give England technological advances which would greatly aid in the process of conquest gave this tiny island the means to have a large hand in the shaping of the world.
Despite the past works of England at large in the world the current issues with the English language arise mainly from the United States of America. Due to the USA's prominent rise to power and influence it has dictated that even through England's fall from control of the world the English language would continue to be used in both business and military operations around the world. Because the USA is the largest creator of media and exporter of said media it creates a massive influence on the rest of the world, particularly the youth of the world which are the people who will decide which cultures live or die. The USA also has such a powerful economy that it can drag other countries of the world into a depression or recession. The flip side of this of course being that in order to make large sums of money, or in many cases, even adequate sums of money, and a person must speak the language that their pay is going to be negotiated in.
Through this kind of greed, this kind of necessity that money drives the need to learn the English language, often at the expense of other languages and cultures. The culture of the United States is becoming in its own way so complex and changes so quickly that it draws the mind into it; once something has been figured out it seems to change completely. Some sociologists blame this on corporate powers seeking to advertise to teenagers and other young people (Dretzin). In the documentary the Merchants of Cool the idea is discussed that the culture youths in western society attempt to create for themselves is generally taken over by corporate greed and then commercialized, forcing them to find something else to embrace (Dretzin). It is in this manner that western culture becomes a sort of kaleidoscope for the young people, ever shifting and catching attention so that more traditional values or ideas, especially if they don't mesh well with this continuous shifting of values and ideals, fall by the wayside.
Furthermore in examining the past of the English language it needs to be noted the changing values which alter the way in which it is perceived now versus then. Namely in the past there was a prevalent idea that one culture, one race, or one religion was intrinsically better than all the rest. This notion, that the beliefs of one society trumped another lead to the suppression and persecution of peoples far and wide. In British held north America it resulted in the creation of the residential schools as well as a number of horrible treaties and deals in which the government from England took advantage of indigenous populations and robbed them of their homes and lively hoods.
Residential schools were an attempt to drive the culture out of indigenous people by attacking it in the children of the various societies. It shows yet again the importance of the young, that they are malleable and are quite literally the future. If they all lack the knowledge of a culture, so that not a single young person has the complete vocabulary of a language or the knowledge of a legend or creation story then when the last old person who knows it dies, so does the story or the language.
It is this death that England tried to create; it is this kind of murder which residential schools aspired to. Not to murder a person, but to murder a people. At the same time removing the land and lively hood from the people created a way for them to distance indigenous people from their past. To say that it was an intentional action is most likely providing the British Empire with too much credit and creativity, but it did prove to be quite effective. To remove such volumes from a culture, to make it so that some creatures and some places only exist now in stories is to scar the world forever in this way. It makes it easier to lose touch with the past when the past becomes nothing more than stories told in a slow fashion which takes hours when the world already demands so much attention for people to keep up.
But what of the English language itself? How does it play into all of this, what makes it so unique other than its past? In its current state English forms the majority of the media, even in Canada which is a bilingual country. Rather than television stations being split between the two languages of English and French the majority of them outside of Quebec are singularly English. It is the language taught at most elementary schools and high schools. To learn another language is not so much a requirement but a choice that children or teenagers have to make if their parents will not make it for them.
As well English grows into each area it is spoken, like most languages it picks up local idioms and turns of phrase. The difference being that English is growing so fast that it is predicted to become the first modern language to gain over 1,000,000 words. It also has spawned a new form of itself, with texting and internet chat languages creating short forms and new shapes for words as well as emoticons for expressing emotion through text. In this growing language to a degree young people can gain a voice by using a new word until it gains momentum and joins the mainstream, not unlike a trend gaining corporate marketing and becoming a fad.
The devices which young people use to communicate through, computers and cell phones are generally designed by English speaking people for English speaking clientele. This means that they carry the English alphabet and furthermore as the majority of websites and songs which are offered are in English it makes more sense to speak it. The next question is that if this is a far more common language and young people are in general spending more time with people that they are not related to do they not require a common language? Similar to Latin in medieval Europe where it was the language of the university so that all people could understand each other in an academic environment English is somewhat the language of the young across north America, so that while there might be minor misunderstandings due to local preferences, such as pop versus soda, in general people tend to be able to communicate with each other because most of the words share a common meaning.
A problem currently growing in the English language though is the need to be able to label. Namely if it exists there seems to be some kind of a need for a word for it. An example would be two people who have a long distance friendship, if they don't ever really see each other but instead exchange text messages, emails, and speak on the phone, someone may decide to label their friendship as a convo-ship, combing conversation and friendship. In this seeking and labelling of new situations, of designing a word for every single thing so that nothing remains unlabeled English hurts itself. Namely as the English language tries to be able to cover every situation it encounters a problem that is very prevalent in western society, that sometimes a person, a politician, a teacher, a parent, someone in authority doesn't actually hold all the answers. English tries to explain every single situation and occurrence that happens without realizing that in having to apply the English language to it offers a limit on what can be known, what can be said, and what can be described. Because English comes with its own perspective from its past it has limitations in the now. That is not to say that it will not someday gain the perspective and understanding needed to describe things which indigenous languages and stories already understand, already can offer wisdom on. It is this fact, that there is useful knowledge which seems to be disregarded to a large extent that is the shift which needs to occur in the westernized mindset.
With this current situation it may seem that all is lost. That in this current situation it may be possible to hold onto the young generation for a while but eventually the entirety of them will slip away and be replaced by generations after generations of youths who embrace the going trends and try to remain one step ahead of "the man". It seems to be a depressing state of affairs to be sure, but one thing to keep in mind is the evolution of the way that people react and grow as well as how easy it is to share knowledge now. The growing short attention span comes from the current technology which is becoming more and more widespread. This is actually a blessing in disguise.
With kids looking for stimulation and ideas to explore there are so many pieces of indigenous knowledge which can be offered. Books and stories that can be read to young children before bed, they can incorporate themes that differ from the western fairy tales where the beautiful princess is saved by the handsome prince. They can include new words to stretch their vocabulary. As well, with parents reading along with their children the words would eventually, if not right away, work their way into the parent's vocabulary which in turn would allow the words to be used in a wider society as a whole.
Books are not the only medium available to help though, there is also music if one of the many musicians who are activists could be contacted. The number of different themes and different perspectives could offer so much to song writing as well as to conventional authors. It would allow for a larger growth of art in general to grow which in turn would present the world with new forms of knowledge. In western society it is the task of artists and academics to press the world to change, to recognize what is there in front of their eyes. The values and changes that can be made by attempting to look at the world in another manner should appeal to the psychologist, the sociologist and the anthropologist. As well, examining traditional medicines should be something which doctors attempt to do, because their duty is to their patents first. If something works, the western view is to find out why, not to say that something is not worth it because of the source. With so much to offer much of the world should be standing up and asking a lot more questions.
As well the internet offers a lot for the growth of spreading and saving knowledge. There are people around the world who would be more than willing to aid in the recording and saving of knowledge as well as setting up ways for people to learn it. The internet allows the spread of knowledge to travel much faster than ever before, and to reach those who are interested in learning it so much sooner. Languages can be recorded as they are spoken and placed online for download so that people can learn and gain a deeper understanding of the world and of themselves.
Which brings up a question, who has the rights to try and learn these languages, to gain this knowledge before it leaves and must be rediscovered again or remain forgotten forever? There is a growing number of people who are dissatisfied with the life offered to them from their parents. Teens and young adults who feel that the religious institutions of their parents are just that, institutions and not something that actually cares about the people they pretend to protect and save. There is a growing sense of dissatisfaction from the westernized lifestyle where someone works for years and years at a job they hate in order to get to retirement where they can finally enjoy life.
These people are a resource that is readily available if people are willing to reach out to them. They are willing to learn and share the knowledge they are given. They will be the teachers and artists who have an impact on people's lives. They probably won't be the people who rise to the top of corporations and make the decisions that affect millions of people around the globe. Instead they will be the ones whose books or paintings inspire others. They are the ones who in their spare time will help others. They are the ones who will teach classrooms of young people and attempt to get them to recognize the pain that a North American lifestyle offers. They are the ones who will try to open other people's eyes to what is going on in the world. If they are given the chance they will work with all their passion to make sure that knowledge and languages are never lost and are never ever wasted.
That is the way the world is now. It is a world of speed and drugs, of work and pain, of suppression and lacking understand and compassion. It doesn't show much respect to the past, it doesn't tend to focus on much other than the future, not even the here and now. It is a place where people run from place to place and don't look at the journey in the middle. It is a world where the one dominant language, English, is slowly eating up the others, though there is a resistance to it. Yet there is opportunity here. The very things which create such negative situations can be turned and used to save indigenous knowledge, can be used to create a better world. If those who are willing to learn really meet with those who have the knowledge to teach then it is possible that nothing really will be lost. It is possible that the world will grow even further. It is likely that people will grow to be greater, to understand more, and to hurt less. It all depends on how people react soon. This is the time when it is being decided. It isn't a time to wait till tomorrow, or to hold back. It is here, it is now. The only question left to ask is the one to ask yourself, ask if you are ready to take the steps. Ask if you think you can do it. Ask if you are ready to be a teacher and a student at the same time. Hope the answer is yes.
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