End of funding for holistic Michif program brings fears endangered Mtis language won't survive

Mira Kolodka moved to Brandon, Man., from Winnipeg to help preserve the southern Michif language. She saysit was her responsibility as a young Mtis woman to help strengthen and revitalize a vital part of her culture.

Since September 2022, Kolodka has been participatingin the Michif Master/Mentor-Apprentice (MAP) Language House. Its goal was to increasethe number of fluent Michif speakers and share the language with future generations.

But onJan. 9,she and five other participants found outthey were losing their financial support from theLouis Riel Institute, the education authority for the Manitoba Mtis Federation. This news came after they learnedin December they would need to vacate the house where the program is heldby Jan. 15.

"I think we made it pretty far, all things considered," Kolodka said. "I think we've managed to thrive despite the circumstances."

From the beginning, there was uncertainty about the program's stabilityand funding, she said. Participants were driven tohelp the language thrive because it is a critical part of Mtis identity.

Kolodka lived at the house, where apprentices worked with two masters to immerse themselves in the study ofMichif.

In the mornings they would gather to do household chores, read andchat. They also engaged incultural activities, such asbeading and trapping. Every outing was an opportunity to holistically learn Michif, Kolodka said.

WATCH | Funding in doubt for program keeping Mtis language alive:

Future of Manitoba Michif-language program in doubt after funding cut

9 months ago

Duration 2:07

The future of an immersion program aimed at teaching Southern Michif a traditional language of Mtis people in Manitoba to younger generations is in doubt after its funding was cut. Community members say the program is vital to keeping the language alive.

Michif is endangered language

Verna DeMontigny, 73, a mentor, worked with apprentices through the Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle, in partnership with the Louis Riel Institute (LRI).

She and Kolodkasaid they're worriedthat without programs like MAP House, Michif an already severely endangered language will disappear. They say more opportunities are needed for young people and elders to connect and strengthen Michif.

StatisticsCanada reports there are 1,845 Michif speakersin Canada, and40 live in Manitoba. DeMontigny and others say the number of fluent speakers is likely much lower.

As part of the MAP House project, staff also attended the teaching Indigenous languages for vitality program at the University of Winnipeg. The initial two-year cycle of the program goes until June of this year.

The participants don't know if their tuition has been paid at all this year and if they'll be able to complete the course.

"There's still a lot of stuff we haven't done or haven't covered, which is why it's so disappointing that we're ending," DeMontigny said. "We're not done by a long shot."

Ottawa brings in new approach

Heather Souterruns the non-profit Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle. It oversaw the houseand program from its inception in September 2022 until March 2023, in partnership with LRI.

She said research shows that master-apprentice programs immersing learners in a language are the best way to boost the number offluent speakers.

Butthese initiatives need financial support, Souter said.

On July 15, Soutersaid, LRI took over the lease of thehouse, and on Aug. 1, it took over the employment of all of the staff. "They took responsibility for it," shesaid.

CBC News reached out to LRI for comment but has not received aresponse.

In a statement, the Manitoba Mtis Federation (MMF) said LRI hadbeen accessing the funding directly from the Department of Canadian Heritage, through itsIndigenous languages program, up until March 2023. It has been responsible for all costs associated with MAP House.

However, starting on April1, 2023, Canadian Heritage implemented a new approach to providing funding support for Mtis languages. Funding for projects like MAP House is no longer granted through an application process but is insteadpaid directly to Mtis National Council governing members and the MMF.

The MMF says this means a more strategic approach to language preservation is needed and that involves a restructuring of LRI and its programs.

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In a statement, Canadian Heritage said the federal government "has provided historic investments totalling $840.1 million from 2019-20 to 2025-26, and $117.7 million in ongoing funding in budgets 2019 and 2021 to support the community-based efforts of the First Nations, Inuit and Mtis to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen their languages."

No one provided the budget for the MAP House program, but a search of a federal government database found the MMF and LRI have received a total of at least $14,480,624in grants for Michif language programs from Canadian Heritage since 2019.

Funding a 'consistent concern'

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made recommendations to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages. In 2019, Ottawa passed legislationcreating an Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. Ronald E. Ignace was appointed commissioner two years ago.

"We continue to engage with Indigenous peoples and communities, language teachersand advocates from across the country, and a consistent concern being raised is the level of funding provided for Indigenous languages," Ignace said in a statement to CBC News, adding he has raised the issue with Prime Minister Justin Trudeauand the ministers of finance and Canadian heritage.

"We know that given the right resources, institutional supportand hard work by our communities, the governmentsand Canadians alike, we can see a future where all Indigenous languages are safe, vibrant, and thriving."

MAP House, combined with the teaching Indigenous languages for vitality program, created a space for learners to develop their language and teaching skills so they could deliver courses to future generations, saidShelley Tulloch, the chair of the anthropology department at the University of Winnipeg and co-co-ordinator of its Indigenous languages program.

This is critical because more Michif speakers are needed to pass on the language, she said.

"I would love to see more programs like this opening ... expanding," Tulloch said. "I'm really hopeful for these students ... in the long term keep learning the language and become teachers of Michif for the next generation."

Language 'not going to survive'

Janelle Zazalak, lead apprentice and house co-ordinator, said as a younger person learning Michif, it's devastatingseeingMAP Houseend.

There are no other programs like it, and itallowed participants to bring what they learnedback to their families, she said.

"What I learned here, I take home and practise with my daughter and with my husband, and then they're learning the language," Zazalak said. "To see my daughter practising it with her friends, it's really cool."

She said she's now worried for the future of Michif as a spoken language. "Without programs like this, it's just not going to survive."

Zazalaksaid immediate action and funding areneeded because there are fewer and fewer fluent Michif speakers, andelders who speak the language are dying.

"Right now this is our living. We're getting paid to learn Michif and to learn how to teach Michif," shesaid. "Butif we have to go and get other jobs, then we can't necessarily come back if the funding comes back in a year or two."

Kolodka saidwith the program over, the only thing that's certain about her future is she's moving back to Winnipeg because she no longer has a place to live in Brandon.

"I definitely want to keep speaking and learning and sharing language with people," shesaid. "I believe it's a lifelong path."

Butit'sharder to do without financial support and being immersed in the language, Kolodka said, adding she wants to see resources get topeople who can make the best use of fundingto help strengthen endangered languages.

DeMontigny said MAP House's closure is disastrousfor futuregenerations of Michif speakers.

"The elders are ... starting to go to the spirit world, and they're going to take this language with them," she said. "Michif and other languages [are]going to be extinct."

WATCH | The future of Michif as a spoken language:

The future of Michif as a spoken language

9 months ago

Duration 2:44

A traditional language of Metis people in Manitoba is under threat. Michif is already one of Canada's critically endangered languages. Now its future is even more uncertain.