{"id":76905,"date":"2016-06-05T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-05T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=76905"},"modified":"2016-06-05T05:45:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-05T09:45:00","slug":"restoring-indigenous-languages-key-preventing-suicides-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/06\/05\/restoring-indigenous-languages-key-preventing-suicides-prime-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring indigenous languages key to preventing suicides: Prime Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trudeau<\/a>
Trudeau told a virtual town hall with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Winnipeg that languages are at the core of indigenous culture and identity. (Facebook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WINNIPEG \u2013 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says restoring indigenous languages is key to preventing youth suicides in First Nation communities but stopped short of promising to recognize them as official languages.<\/p>\n

Trudeau told a virtual town hall with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Winnipeg that languages are at the core of indigenous culture and identity. Communities that do a better job of teaching their own language and culture see \u201cmassive decreases in suicide rates,\u201d Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that we know is essential,\u201d he said Friday. \u201cAs an indicator of pride and identity, belonging and culture, indigenous languages are essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trudeau pointed to the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools \u2013 released a year ago \u2013 which found preventing children from learning their own language was a powerful tool for assimilation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to counter that by celebrating languages,\u201d Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

He wouldn\u2019t say whether the federal government will recognize indigenous tongues alongside French and English as Canada\u2019s official languages but said he looks forward to discussing the idea with chiefs.<\/p>\n

A rash of suicides, with some victims as young as 13, has prompted several First Nations to declare states of emergency in the past few months.<\/p>\n

Liberal MLA Judy Klassen, who represents a northern Manitoba riding, told the legislature Thursday that she and others from her home community of St. Theresa Point First Nation carry around box-cutters because \u201cyou never know when you will come across a child hanging from a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our nightmarish reality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Canada has failed for centuries to live up to the treaties signed with indigenous people, Trudeau said following a speech to the country\u2019s municipal leaders. The Liberals have put over $8 billion on the table over five years to improve the standard of living for indigenous people but change will not happen overnight, Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a problem that\u2019s going to be fixed quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some say elevating indigenous languages to official status would be a huge step forward.<\/p>\n

Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, who represents northern Manitoba First Nations, said suicides crises have become all too common in some communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings stabilize but… it never really fully goes away,\u201d said North Wilson, head of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.<\/p>\n

Part of the despair felt by many stems from past racist policies which sought to make people ashamed of their culture and language, she said. Officially recognizing indigenous languages would give First Nations their \u201crightful place\u201d in this country, she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ridiculous to fly into a remote northern reserve in Manitoba and hear the flight attendant give a safety message in English before putting on a French recording, North Wilson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be broadcasting them in Cree because we want the elders to understand,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s not honouring them as people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2013 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says restoring indigenous languages is key to preventing youth suicides in First Nation communities …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":23387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[3070,11058,9745],"class_list":["post-76905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-justin-trudeau","tag-pm-trudeau","tag-trudeau","mauthors-chinta-puxley","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}