Michif language projects get federal funding boost in Manitoba

The official language of the Mtis Nation will be getting a boost in Manitoba after the federal government announced close to half a million dollars infunding.

On Thursday, Canadian Heritage MinisterSteven Guilbeault and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal announced $487,000 in funding from theIndigenous Languages and Cultures Program towardrevitalizing the Michif language in Manitoba.

The Manitoba Mtis Federation (MMF) and the Canadian government estimatethere are less than 200 fluent Michif speakers left in Manitoba and about 1,000 speakers total across the Mtis homelands, which spanparts of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

"[There's] not very many people and most of them are older now. We're losing them every day," said WillGoodon, a spokesperson for the MMF, who is from the Turtle Mountains region of southwestern Manitoba.

Goodon, who is learning Michif, saidhe welcomes the funding but also acknowledged that short-term funding can be problematic for Indigenous language teachers and learners.

"One of my elders from the southwest region basically said that in the past, when she teaches the language she's taught in the Brandon school divisions, she's taught at the Brandon university the stops and starts [of language programs] almost make it worse," he said.

"It's hard to have that continuity. It needs to be there, you need to speak the language all the time in order for it to become a part of you, then the cultural parts of it becomes a part of you as well."

Archiving projects

In 2019, the federal government said it would allot$333.7 million over five years to Indigenous languages projects, with an annual budget of $115.7 million afterward.

The funding for Michif in Manitoba is set to be dispersed among three organizations:the Louis Riel Institute, which is the educational arm of the MMF; the Northwest MtisCouncil, also part of the MMF; and anon-profit organization called Two Sisters Language Resources and Applied Linguistics.

Guilbeault said some of the funding will go to archiving the Michif language and recording elders while they go about everyday activities like fishing and cooking at home.

Goodon is hoping that a long-term funding model becomes available for Indigenous languagesin the future.