When my mother chose not to teach my sister and me Mi’kmaw, she was trying to protect us from the racism she had endured. Years later, I began to understand that this protection also came with a loss. Indigenous languages carry more than words. They connect people to family, land, history, spirituality, and ways of understanding the world.
Across Canada, the United States, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand, research has found links between Indigenous language use and stronger mental wellbeing, cultural identity, resilience, social connection, and access to healthcare. The suppression of these languages through residential schools and other colonial institutions disrupted the transfer of knowledge between generations. That harm continues to shape families and communities today.
This video explores why language revitalization is more than an effort to preserve culture. It is a way to restore belonging, strengthen relationships between generations, support healing, and give communities greater control over their own futures. It is a health project, carried forward in the words of the people who speak the language.
This Sunday, I will release a longer video that explores this topic in more detail. If you are interested in learning more about Indigenous culture and history, I hope you will watch.
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