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Inuktitut 101
Class is now in session within Nunavut and beyond
by Chris Mason

Inuktitut is spoken throughout Nunavut, but the language has been all but invisible in most other regions of Canada.

A recent revival of interest, however, within colleges and universities in central and eastern Canada, is giving Inuktitut experts hope that use of the language is increasing outside Nunavut. “We’re really seeing a lot of growth in Inuktitut courses being offered in Canadian universities,” says Alana Johns, a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto.

Johns and other Inuktitut linguists say they aren’t worried about the language’s survival within Nunavut. According to the 2001 census, 70 percent of Canada’s Inuit population speak Inuktitut. And enrollment in Inuktitut programs offered by two Nunavut-based institutions — the Kativik School Board and Nunavut Arctic College — has increased 34 percent since 1999, from an average of 112 students during the previous five years to 150 registrants for the 2003-2004 school year.

With half of Canada’s 45,000 Inuit living in Nunavut, however, the language’s presence is slim in other regions of the country. The experts agree it is important for Inuktitut to establish a presence in as many areas of Canada as possible. Such a broad network would potentially increase the number of Inuktitut speakers across the country, but, more important, it would allow Inuit living outside Nunavut the opportunity to maintain their native language skills.

Still, the territory’s birth has unquestionably raised Inuktitut’s profile. Nine post-secondary institutions in Canada offer some form of Inuktitut language training, many of these courses in programs created since 1999.

Montreal and Ottawa are home to some well-developed Inuktitut programs. Both cities have large, well-organized Inuit populations. This makes it easier to find instructors, which is the greatest challenge in establishing Inuktitut courses outside Nunavut, according to Janet McGrath. McGrath taught Inuktitut at Carleton University, which started offering courses in 2001.

McGill University has gone a step further than many of the others. Since 1975, it has worked in partnership with the Kativik School Board and Nunavut Arctic College. Beyond offering courses, the university sends students to Nunavut to learn the language and become immersed in Inuit culture.

Another Quebec school has an even older claim: Laval University has been offering courses in Inuktitut since 1972, with an average of 12 students taking the courses, which are offered every two years. “It is Laval that has the strongest Inuktitut connection,” says Jonathan Dewer, a spokesperson with Nunavut’s Office of the Languages Commissioner.

The list goes on: Memorial University in Newfoundland, St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia and the Avataq Cultural Institute in Nunavut all offer Inuktitut courses. West of Ontario there is still only one: the University of Manitoba.

The experts note that, as encouraging as it is to see the growing interest in Inuktitut, the priority is ensuring the language’s survival among the Inuit population. “It is maybe even more important that Inuit are studying Inuktitut,” says Martha Crago, a professor in McGill’s school of communication sciences and disorders.

And although Johns is optimistic about what she sees happening at the various schools, she sees the movement as only a beginning. She offers for comparison the options available to someone studying European languages in university and says there should be more opportunities here for those who wish to study a language whose roots lie within our borders. “We definitely could be doing more in Canada about Inuktitut,” Johns says.

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