Decolonization of Language Policy in Arctic Canada - Letter to the Editor

• Main Author: Hadlari, Thomas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Nunavut
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/65g096w5

Colonialism in northern Canada is not a historical artefact because the bureaucratic structure of colonial government persists. If parts of southern Canada are discussing post-colonial frameworks, then we must consider that the northernmost Territory of Nunavut ("our land") is in a syn-colonial condition and the present trend is for it to continue. Canada endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in 2016 and enacted it in 2021. If Canada is truly committed to a philosophy of reconciliation and decolonization, then it will make policy changes in the north that follow a guiding principle of self-determination for indigenous people. The simplest changes would be 1) to deliver more Inuktut instruction in schools and 2) to add knowledge of Inuktut to the essential hiring criteria for the entire Government of Nunavut (GN).