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Making Indigenous languages official in Canada faces struggles due to the deep, ongoing impact of colonization (residential schools, assimilation policies), the sheer number of endangered languages (over 70), lack of constitutional protection like English/French have, funding gaps, and challenges implementing legislation like the Indigenous Languages Act effectively, despite strong community efforts for revitalization. The core issue is moving beyond mere documentation to ensuring effective support for daily use, education, and government services, a goal hindered by historical trauma and systemic neglect.  Key Struggles & Challenges: Colonial Legacy: Policies like the Indian Act and residential schools suppressed languages, causing massive loss, with trauma still affecting intergenerational transmission. Constitutional Gap: Unlike English and French, Indigenous languages lack explicit, strong constitutional rights (e.g., in the Charter) for government services, as noted in this article from indigenouswatchdog.org. Urgency & Scarcity: Most of Canada's 70+ Indigenous languages are endangered, with many facing imminent extinction, requiring immediate action from the last fluent elders. Implementation of Legislation: The Indigenous Languages Act (2019) aims to support revitalization, but it's criticized for being non-binding and not creating effective rights, meaning legal recognition doesn't always translate to real-world resources or services. Funding & Resource Gaps: While funding exists, it's often insufficient, limited in scope, or not reaching grassroots efforts effectively, making comprehensive revitalization difficult. Integration Challenges: Integrating Indigenous languages into education (K-12, higher ed) and public services (health, justice) remains a significant hurdle, even where there's political will, as seen in territories with official Indigenous languages.

Before French and English colonization, First Nations people spoke hundreds of distinct, diverse Indigenous languages from numerous families like Algonquian (Cree, Anishinaabemowin), Athabaskan/Na-Dené (Dene, Tlingit), Iroquoian (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois), Siouan, and Salish, among others, forming complex linguistic landscapes across North America, with major families like Algonquian and Na-Dené covering vast territories.  Key Language Families & Examples: Algonquian: Spoken across eastern and central North America, including Cree (Nēhiyawēwin), Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin), Blackfoot (Siksiká), and Montagnais (Innu). Athabaskan (Na-Dené): Found in the northwest and parts of the plains, encompassing languages like Dene (Dënesųłiné), Tłı‌chǫ, and Tlingit. Iroquoian: Spoken by peoples like the Haudenosaunee (Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, etc.) and Wendat (Huron) in the Northeast. Siouan: Languages like Nakoda (Stoney) in the Plains region. Pacific Coast Languages: A huge diversity, including Salish, Tsimshian, Wakashan, and Haida.

English and French colonization had a devastating and intentional impact on the Indigenous languages of Canada, leading to the severe endangerment and, in some cases, extinction of many languages. This was achieved through explicit colonial policies aimed at cultural assimilation and the suppression of Indigenous identities.  Key Impacts of Colonization Forced Assimilation via Residential Schools: The most significant factor in language loss was the government-funded, church-run residential school system, which operated from the 19th century to the late 20th century. Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and communities and sent to these schools. Punishment for Speaking Native Tongues: In the schools, children were forbidden to speak their Indigenous languages and were often subjected to severe physical, emotional, and sexual abuse if they did. Intergenerational Trauma and Knowledge Loss: The experience in residential schools caused profound trauma. Survivors often did not teach their children their traditional languages, partly out of fear of punishment and partly because their own fluency had been impacted, which inhibited the languages from being passed to the next generation. Discriminatory Legislation: The Indian Act: This legislation, along with other colonial policies, was used to suppress Indigenous cultural expression, including language. Official Languages Act: Canada's official language policies recognize only English and French as dominant languages, effectively marginalizing the over 60 distinct Indigenous languages that existed on the land long before European settlement. Dispossession of Land: Forcible removal of Indigenous communities from their traditional lands and onto reserves disrupted the deep connection between language, culture, and the natural environment. Indigenous languages often encode unique knowledge about local ecosystems, which was lost when communities were displaced. Social Stigmatization: Colonial ideologies viewed Indigenous cultures and languages as "inferior" or "savage," promoting English and French as the languages of "modernity" and "progress". This created a social hierarchy where speaking an Indigenous language could be a barrier to education and employment opportunities in the dominant society.  Current Situation and Revitalization Efforts The legacy of these policies has resulted in low numbers of fluent Indigenous language speakers today, with many languages considered endangered or critically endangered. However, there are significant ongoing efforts toward language revitalization.  The Canadian federal government passed the Indigenous Languages Act in 2019, which aims to support the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain, and strengthen their languages. Indigenous communities, educational institutions, and organizations are actively working to preserve languages through immersion programs, community initiatives, and documentation. UNESCO has declared 2022 to 2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw global attention to the urgent need for preservation and promotion.

Finally someone has covered this! This is the sad reality as to what's happening to Canada. The UK is the exact same. We are being outbred, our jobs are being taken away, and we are being overrun with them. Look at the Canadian government, that's how bad it has become. The Canadian government has become so corrupt because of this! Once they infiltrated the government, all kinds of corruption occured, their extended families were getting automatic citizenship, free healthcare, and draining the Canadian job market and healthcare benefits. One common scam they pull is that they will find a job, immediately apply for social welfare, and take time off and still get paid for months without even working. They completely abuse the system which results in actual Canadians who need social welfare benefits to not be able to gain any benefits, because of the amount of scammers that have infiltrated and colonized the country. Canada is screwed completely unless we speak up about this! There are many of us who don't like this and don't want it, but there are many Canadians who are bleeding hearts and weak who just accept it. They're going to outbreed us and eventually completely takeover and completely ruin the country. Canada is not the same place that I remember from my childhood. It has become the capitol of woke ideology, weakness, and completely overrun by Indians. Not to mention that we used to be a Christian country. We used to say Merry Christmas every year, Christian values were upheld and encouraged, now there are Mosques everywhere! There are more Mosques in Canada than Churches these days. Canada has become ruined. The worst part is, that those who come to our country don't even respect our values, traditions, or even attempt to assimilate. They expect us to conform to their ways. We can no longer be Christians because they are Anti-Christian, we can no longer speak English or French, because they hate our language. I have literally been to Toronto and Vancouver and seen the madness unfold, not an ounce of English is spoken or understood in those areas. It's either Chinese or Indian that is spoken. Usually, when you come to another country, you are supposed to conform to that country's values and traditions, not the other way around. Canada has done the complete opposite because of the bleeding hearts in charge of the country. I say screw that and no more! Make Canada Canadian Again! Keep Canada Christian!

I a, Pakistani let me tell why won’t assimilate it’s cuz you guys make fun of our accent and culture so we say is they can look down on us even if we assimilate why assimilate at all honestly it feels so good no need to speak French or English I only speak English at school even that is interrupted by speaking desi languages like Punjabi Hindi Urdu and others like we can integrate but never assimilate and also not to mention stereotypes you guys do on us so we just say if they gonna treat us negatively why not just take jobs and business we aren’t gonna be treated any better so why not make most out of it and why you guys mad other people have their own communities culture and language you guys were also immigrants not even immigrants but colonizers who literally gcided the natives also why you mad like they are successful and made their own community and support eachother that’s why they aren’t homeless they support eachother and are willing to compromise

"You can take a man out of the village, but you cannot get the village out of a man". Immigration, in particular of India, as alluded in this video, is not a/the problem per se. After all, more than 50% of Canada is immigrants, if you don't want to consider French and English colonizers immigrants, too. The real problem is when Indian immigrants, and truly any immigrants, DO NOT WANT TO ASSIMILATE and/or do not any effort in doing it.

(Flees gang violence, applying for Asylum) _ Creates and joins gangs in Canada when they arrive. Becomes liasons for the old gangs they fled from. Their community fears the police... (because back where they are from, the Police is corrupt and works with gangs.) Thus they perpetuate the cycle by not calling out the individuals and help gang-busting units. Canada then starts enabling this. By kid-gloving migrants, non-permanent residents, Visa holders. Judges arent helping either. BAIL, BAIL, BAIL $$$. And thus Crime is imported. Religious extremists call out xyz-phobia. Etc... I was told that my struggles, my hard work. My self-imprivement and all of the trials I got througb are "A priviledge" that I have it better than xyz. And I get demeaned for my skin colour, and that I was born in Canada so I (must have is good) _ right? As a french-Canadian. English Canadians shit on me. As a woman, I get judged as a Tomboy and asked if I'm a Lesbian (no. I just like video games and Cars), and get judged by my skin whenever I claw myself out of a challenge or find some stability and happiness. Colonizer, slaveowner, cracker, priviledged, cooshie, freerider, racist, kkk, nazi. White supremacist, faschist, etc... Its enough to infuriate anyone. And you'd think we got away from being racist. Of using slanderous namecalling. Its depressing.

As someone living in Canada it's been crazy the boom of indian people. I live in a highly desired immigration location and it's rare to go to a fast food place and it isn't just full of only indian workers. Additionally, I walk to work for less than 10 mins, and I pass 4-5 houses just packed with young indian men packed into a house together, like 6-8 people. \nDespite all this huge number of indian immigrants I have no indian friends, because they don't integrate at all, they stay completely insulated in groups of other indians, often speaking to eachiother in their native language rather than bothering to learn the national languages of canada either english or french. We've immigrated like 5-10 years worth of immigrants in just 1-2 years. It's unsustainable and insane. we don't have the structure to support this population.\n\nIt's modern colonization. Plain and simple.

Let’s remember a few historical things:\n\nSpain ended up colonizing indigenous people in “south america”\n\nThe english either went into war and burnt their villages, or forced them off their land to shitty land.\n\nThe french were also in the mix.\n\nAll of these european groups used guns and force.\n\nat this point the native americans saw guns as the new means of power.\n\nmoney also has power, but if you’re indigenous, there wasn’t a great chance of that. some resorted to guns to make a living. once america had structure, the people with guns got deported.\n\nthose deported still resorted to guns having power, because really…colonialization screwed up the native south and north american’s way of life.\n\nthey started gangs and drug cartels etc. they will kill and pillage like they were taught by their imperialist europeans and that power has been passed down for hundreds of years with much more complexity.\n\nIf anything, America should go to war with the drug cartels studying where the cocain etc is coming from. if they want to legalize it or make it a proper business or something to make it, that’s another discussion. \n\ndo you think these people want to come to america and clean a mcdonalds at 2am?\n\nno. \n\ndo they want to be mowed down with guns at home? heeeell no.\n\ndo they want to be united with their families, culture, and way of life free of guns? yeeees\n\nget to the root of the problem.\n\na blockade or wall is not a solution of any sort.