End of funding for holistic Michif program brings fears endangered Métis language won't survive
MAP House in Brandon aimed to strengthen a vital part of the culture
Mira Kolodka moved to Brandon, Man., from Winnipeg to help preserve the southern Michif language. She says it was her responsibility as a young Métis woman to help strengthen and revitalize a vital part of her culture.
Since September 2022, Kolodka has been participating in the Michif Master/Mentor-Apprentice (MAP) Language House. Its goal was to increase the number of fluent Michif speakers and share the language with future generations.
But on Jan. 9, she and five other participants found out they were losing their financial support from the Louis Riel Institute, the education authority for the Manitoba Métis Federation. This news came after they learned in December they would need to vacate the house where the program is held by Jan. 15.
"I think we made it pretty far, all things considered," Kolodka said. "I think we've managed to thrive despite the circumstances."
From the beginning, there was uncertainty about the program's stability and funding, she said. Participants were driven to help the language thrive because it is a critical part of Métis identity.
Kolodka lived at the house, where apprentices worked with two masters to immerse themselves in the study of Michif.
In the mornings they would gather to do household chores, read and chat. They also engaged in cultural activities, such as beading and trapping. Every outing was an opportunity to holistically learn Michif, Kolodka said.
Michif is endangered language
Verna DeMontigny, 73, a mentor, worked with apprentices through the Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle, in partnership with the Louis Riel Institute (LRI).
She and Kolodka said they're worried that without programs like MAP House, Michif — an already severely endangered language — will disappear. They say more opportunities are needed for young people and elders to connect and strengthen Michif.
Statistics Canada reports there are 1,845 Michif speakers in Canada, and 40 live in Manitoba. DeMontigny and others say the number of fluent speakers is likely much lower.
As part of the MAP House project, staff also attended the teaching Indigenous languages for vitality program at the University of Winnipeg. The initial two-year cycle of the program goes until June of this year.
The participants don't know if their tuition has been paid at all this year and if they'll be able to complete the course.
"There's still a lot of stuff we haven't done or haven't covered, which is why it's so disappointing that we're ending," DeMontigny said. "We're not done by a long shot."
Ottawa brings in new approach
Heather Souter runs the non-profit Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle. It oversaw the house and program from its inception in September 2022 until March 2023, in partnership with LRI.
She said research shows that master-apprentice programs immersing learners in a language are the best way to boost the number of fluent speakers.
But these initiatives need financial support, Souter said.
On July 15, Souter said, LRI took over the lease of the house, and on Aug. 1, it took over the employment of all of the staff. "They took responsibility for it," she said.
CBC News reached out to LRI for comment but has not received a response.
In a statement, the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) said LRI had been accessing the funding directly from the Department of Canadian Heritage, through its Indigenous languages program, up until March 2023. It has been responsible for all costs associated with MAP House.
However, starting on April 1, 2023, Canadian Heritage implemented a new approach to providing funding support for Métis languages. Funding for projects like MAP House is no longer granted through an application process but is instead paid directly to Métis National Council governing members and the MMF.
The MMF says this means a more strategic approach to language preservation is needed and that involves a restructuring of LRI and its programs.
In a statement, Canadian Heritage said the federal government "has provided historic investments totalling $840.1 million from 2019-20 to 2025-26, and $117.7 million in ongoing funding in budgets 2019 and 2021 to support the community-based efforts of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen their languages."
No one provided the budget for the MAP House program, but a search of a federal government database found the MMF and LRI have received a total of at least $14,480,624 in grants for Michif language programs from Canadian Heritage since 2019.
Funding a 'consistent concern'
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made recommendations to preserve, promote and revitalize Indigenous languages. In 2019, Ottawa passed legislation creating an Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. Ronald E. Ignace was appointed commissioner two years ago.
"We continue to engage with Indigenous peoples and communities, language teachers and advocates from across the country, and a consistent concern being raised is the level of funding provided for Indigenous languages," Ignace said in a statement to CBC News, adding he has raised the issue with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the ministers of finance and Canadian heritage.
"We know that given the right resources, institutional support and hard work by our communities, the governments and Canadians alike, we can see a future where all Indigenous languages are safe, vibrant, and thriving."
MAP House, combined with the teaching Indigenous languages for vitality program, created a space for learners to develop their language and teaching skills so they could deliver courses to future generations, said Shelley Tulloch, the chair of the anthropology department at the University of Winnipeg and co-co-ordinator of its Indigenous languages program.
This is critical because more Michif speakers are needed to pass on the language, she said.
"I would love to see more programs like this opening ... expanding," Tulloch said. "I'm really hopeful for these students ... in the long term keep learning the language and become teachers of Michif for the next generation."
Language 'not going to survive'
Janelle Zazalak, lead apprentice and house co-ordinator, said as a younger person learning Michif, it's devastating seeing MAP House end.
There are no other programs like it, and it allowed participants to bring what they learned back to their families, she said.
"What I learned here, I take home and practise with my daughter and with my husband, and then they're learning the language," Zazalak said. "To see my daughter practising it with her friends, it's really cool."
She said she's now worried for the future of Michif as a spoken language. "Without programs like this, it's just not going to survive."
Zazalak said immediate action and funding are needed because there are fewer and fewer fluent Michif speakers, and elders who speak the language are dying.
"Right now this is our living. We're getting paid to learn Michif and to learn how to teach Michif," she said. "But if we have to go and get other jobs, then we can't necessarily come back if the funding comes back in a year or two."
Kolodka said with the program over, the only thing that's certain about her future is she's moving back to Winnipeg because she no longer has a place to live in Brandon.
"I definitely want to keep speaking and learning and sharing language with people," she said. "I believe it's a lifelong path."
But it's harder to do without financial support and being immersed in the language, Kolodka said, adding she wants to see resources get to people who can make the best use of funding to help strengthen endangered languages.
DeMontigny said MAP House's closure is disastrous for future generations of Michif speakers.
"The elders are ... starting to go to the spirit world, and they're going to take this language with them," she said. "Michif and other languages [are] going to be extinct."
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story said that grants from the Department of Canadian Heritage to the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Louis Riel Institute for Michif language programs totalled at least $26,595,149 since 2019. In fact, the amount was $14,480,624.Jan 15, 2024 3:59 PM CT
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With files from Karen Pauls