Education, Language, and Communication

Traditionally, children learned from their own parents and other relatives. For the matrilineal Tlingit, Haida, and western Athabaskans, the mother’s brother might take a strong role in a boy’s training, while girls looked to their mothers and grandmothers for instruction. Kinship networks and experiences in the community continue to be important, but these are now supplemented with formal education in schools.

In the nineteenth century, mission schools were initially intended for the children of traders and for orphans, but later Anglicans, Catholics, and other denominations operated residential schools for the native population. In many cases, students were taken long distances from their homes and confined for months or years without being able to speak their language or engage in traditional activities. The Canadian government supported the residential schools until the 1970s, when they were closed down and native students began attending public schools. Since then, there have been numerous court cases relating to sexual and other forms of physical abuse in the residential schools, and the negative experiences of many young natives in these schools have been linked to the various social problems that afflict Na-Dene society today.

The public schools of Yukon and the Northwest Territories are directly administered by the territorial departments of education – with the exception of the Dogrib schools of the Territories which operate under a separate school board – and serve both native and nonnative students. In the provinces, some Na-Dene students attend schools operated by the local First Nation, while others attend provincial schools, often together with non-native students. In general, the level of academic achievement of Na-Dene students is below the national norms. A high percentage of students in most communities drop out of school in junior and senior high school. Some Na-Dene go on to university and successful careers, but on the whole native students experience difficulties with the present educational system. Native language and culture are increasingly represented in the school curriculum, particularly in the Territories; however, the bulk of the curriculum still reflects the culture of the dominant society.

Today there are speakers of every Canadian Na-Dene language except that of the Tsetsaut, a small group originally located south of the Tahltan in northern British Columbia. However, school programs in Na-Dene languages have not been effective in maintaining fluency despite the dedication of native-language teachers. English is the language of instruction in these schools, with instruction in native languages offered only a few hours each week. Native-language instruction is most common at the elementary level, although in some areas there are language classes at the secondary and college levels as well. The only communities where children are truly fluent are those in which native language is still the language of everyday life so that children learn it first. In 1996 these include the Dogrib communities of Fort Rae, Lac La Martre, Snare Lakes, and Rae Lakes, and some Slave, Beaver, and Chipewyan communities.

There are now written forms for all the Na-Dene languages in Canada, but there is a very low rate of native language literacy and most materials written in native languages are designed for use with school language programs. In some areas, native language literacy was initiated by missionaries as early as the nineteenth century. Many missionary groups used native languages extensively in their church services at one time. Chipewyan was written in a syllabic orthography based on Cree and this system was also later used for Beaver and Slave. Hymns and Bible translations were written in syllabics and some individuals also used it to write letters. Archdeacon MacDonald wrote Gwich’in in an alphabetic system which was widely studied and used by those Gwich’in affiliated with the Anglican Church and which continues to be used in church services today. The Russians developed a Cyrillic alphabet for Tlingit, but this system was not widely used by the interior Tlingit. These early traditions of native language literacy are still maintained by a few older people, but most who can read and write now use the modern alphabetic systems which have come into use in the last thirty years.

The Northwest Territories has declared the five Athabaskan languages of the region to be official languages on an equal standing with English and French. This, along with other initiatives, has given native languages a higher profile, but the trend towards the exclusive use of English has not been reversed. The availability of television, the dominance of English in the educational system, and opportunities for employment in positions where English is used have all conspired to weaken the position of native languages.

The Na-Dene are represented both in the mainstream media and in separate media institutions operated by native organizations. The bulk of programming available on television and radio in most communities is in English and relates to non-native society. There is, however, some programming in native languages. As noted above, the programs of Television Northern Canada, which are available via satellite across the north, have considerable native content. There are also many local radio stations, such as CHON-FM in Yukon, which have a format of contemporary music combined with native-oriented news reports and commentary. In some regions where the native languages are strongest, radio broadcasts are offered in native languages. There have also been several native-operated English language newspapers, such as the Native Press (Yellowknife, 1971–) and Dan Zha (Whitehorse, 1986-92). The development of native media has increased awareness of native issues and promoted self esteem among Na-Dene people generally. A large number of young people have also been trained as writers, producers, translators, and technicians with native media. Federal support has been vital to the development of native media, but some of these ventures are threatened by recent cutbacks.