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Chelsea Vowel Argumentative Analysis

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Chelsea Vowel Argumentative Analysis
Efforts to increase fluency in Indigenous languages need Canada’s support

In an article originally published in Chatelaine, Métis author Chelsea Vowel argues that Indigenous languages should be taught alongside French and English in Canada. Vowel makes a case for the official protection of Canada’s Indigenous languages, which are currently on the brink of extinction. She brings up the uncomfortable reality that there are constitutional protections and billions of dollars of funding for Canada’s two official languages of English and French, while the languages of the original peoples of Canada are left behind.

Canadian education systems are structured in such a way that Indigenous studies are easily pushed to the background. Right now, it’s …show more content…
Residential school systems in Canada have perpetuated the loss of Indigenous languages for centuries, and considering the level of endangerment that Indigenous languages across Canada are facing as a result, government help in restoring them is …show more content…
This would be an important step forward to ensure that not only these languages are kept alive, but respected, funded, and recognized by the government.

The emphasis Vowel’s proposal puts on the regional aspects of Indigenous languages gives her argument real weight. While languages like Inuktituk, Cree, and Ojibwe are in danger, there are 70 Indigenous languages across the country today that need even more support to stay alive. History, culture and language are interconnected, and if these languages disappear from fluency there will be no way to revive them.

Signage is another critical way of preserving languages, making them visible and validating their position within Canada. In British Columbia, distance signs with both English and Tsilhqot'in names for locations were installed on a major highway. Highway signs in English, Squamish and Lil'wat were also put up along the highway to Whistler before the 2010 Winter
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