The Decade of Indigenous Languages

The United Nation declared a “Decade of Indigenous Languages”, beginning on January 1, 2022. There are currently over 7000 languages in the world, but roughly 40% of those languages are endangered, as adults no longer speak the language to their children. According to the U.N., one language is lost every two weeks. 

Languages become extinct due to colonization, urbanization and globalization. Colonists may purposely try to eradicate the language and culture of the indigenous people. When indigenous people leave their homelands to find work in cities, they need to speak the dominant language to survive. And young people need to use it to participate in today's global world.

Reviving an endangered language is no easy task. Remaining native speakers must be tracked down, grammar and pronunciation reconstructed, and then teachers trained and provided with teaching resources. All of that costs time and money—it’s a major investment. A few places, such as New Zealand, Australia, Morocco and Canada, are making that investment. According to Australia’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister Leslie Williams, “Aboriginal people have told us language is indivisible from their identity. The cultural inheritance of our Aboriginal communities is too precious to be lost.” The knowledge Indigenous cultures have of sustainable agriculture, herbal medicine and bio-diversity conservation is especially vital to today's world.