How Is COVID-19 Impacting Indigenous Language Revitalization?

A team of NEȾOLṈEW̱ researchers is storying the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous language revitalization (ILR). The pandemic that hit in March of 2020 was potentially detrimental to the great efforts from Indigenous communities, organizations, and individuals to reclaiming their languages. ILR is relational and territorially based and the majority of language work is face-to-face and therefore had to halt immediately for the safety of speakers, learners, and communities. Many did what Indigenous peoples have always done in the face of danger and adversity: adapt. Our research looked at what shifts Indigenous language learners, teachers, and speakers were making in their language work during the pandemic. This video reports findings of an analysis of social media posts from across Canada and the U.S. dated March through July 2020.

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