Résumés
Abstract
This Inuit-led research explores Inuit voices on decolonizing English second-language (ESL) education in Nunavik by examining how Inuit adults and youth envision protecting Inuktitut and culture while framed by Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Thirty-two Inuit adults and 11 youth from three Nunavik communities participated in this research from January to September 2024. They called for decolonizing education by returning to traditional values (IQ) and for schools to uphold Inuit identity and language. The youth identified social media as a key tool for language and cultural preservation, while the adults emphasized the importance of critical dialogue on culture and language within the community. This study contributes to the decolonial discourse in Inuit education by offering an original Inuit-specific methodological framework, Silattusarniq, for research that centers Inuit voices and perspectives on decolonization.
Keywords:
- Decolonization,
- Inuit,
- Inuit-specific Indigenous research methodology,
- language and cultural preservation,
- social media
Résumé
Cette étude menée par des Inuit explore les points de vue des Inuit sur la décolonisation de l’enseignement de l’anglais langue seconde (ESL) au Nunavik, en examinant la manière dont les adultes et les jeunes Inuit envisagent de préserver l’inuktitut et la culture inuit dans le cadre de l’Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Trente-deux adultes inuit et 11 jeunes issus de trois communautés du Nunavik ont participé à cette recherche de janvier à septembre 2024. Ils ont appelé à la décolonisation de l’éducation par un retour aux valeurs traditionnelles (IQ) et ont demandé que les écoles défendent l’identité et la langue inuit. Les jeunes ont identifié les réseaux sociaux comme un outil clé pour la préservation de la langue et de la culture, tandis que les adultes ont souligné l’importance d’un dialogue critique sur la culture et la langue au sein de la communauté. Cette étude contribue au discours décolonial dans l’éducation inuit en proposant un cadre méthodologique original spécifique aux Inuit, le Silattusarniq, pour une recherche qui place au centre les voix et les perspectives inuit sur la décolonisation.
Mots-clés :
- Décolonisation,
- Inuit,
- méthodologie de recherche autochtone spécifique aux Inuit,
- préservation de la langue et de la culture,
- réseaux sociaux
Parties annexes
References
- Author. 2023a. "Intercultural Communication in Second-Language (L2) Learning via Social Media within the Inuit Context: A Scoping Literature Review." AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 19 (4). https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231196147.
- Author. 2023b. "Why Inuit Culture and Language Matter: Decolonizing English Second Language Learning." AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 19 (4): 794–803. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801231197841.
- Alexander, C. J., A. Agar, G. Daborn, J. Houston, and V. Tootoo. 2009. "Inuit Cyberspace: The Struggle for Access for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit." Journal of Canadian Studies 43 (2): 220–249.
- Annahatak, B. 2014. "Silatuniq: Respectful State of Being in the World." Études Inuit Studies 38 (1-2): 23–31.
- Bessarab, D., and B. Ng'andu. 2010. "Yarning about Yarning as a Legitimate Method in Indigenous Research." International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies 3 (1): 37–50. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcis.v3i1.57.
- CBC News. 2017. "Nunavut Funds Community-Based Suicide Prevention Plan: Facebook Joins Forces with Nunavut to Make Social Media Part of the Solution." CBC News, June 26. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-suicide-action-plan-1.4178922#:~:text=The%20Nunavut%20government%20is%20spending,in%20tackling%20the%20suicide%20crisis .
- Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. London: Sage.
- Creswell, J. W., and C. N. Poth. 2018. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. 4th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
- DeSouza, M. 2006. "Entering a Culture Quietly: Writing and Cultural Survival in Indigenous Education in Brazil." In Disinventing and Reconstituting Languages, edited by S. Makoni and A. Pennycook, 135–369. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
- Garcia, O., and P. Velasco. 2012. “Insufficient Language Education Policy: Intercultural Bilingual Education in Chiapas.” Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education 6 (1): 1–18. Doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2011.633129.
- Grauer, K. 2012. "A Case for Case Study Research in Education." In Action Research Methods, edited by S. Klein, 69–79. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Grenoble, L. A. 2018. "Arctic Indigenous Languages: Vitality and Revitalization." In The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization, edited by L. Hinton, L. Huss, and G. Roche, 345–354. New York and London: Routledge.
- Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. 2018. National Inuit Strategy on Research. https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ITK_NISR-Report_English_low_res.pdf.
- Kativik Ilisarniliriniq. n.d. Critical Skills. Retrieved November 4, 2022. https://nunavik-ice.com/en/c/career-and-community-development/the-critical-skills/.
- Kirkness, V. J., and R. Barnhardt. 1991. "First Nations and Higher Education: The Four R's—Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility." Journal of American Indian Education 30 (3): 1–15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24397980.
- Koperqualuk, L. 2009. "How Do We Build History in Nunavik? A Dialogue." Les Cahiers du CIÉRA 4 (15). www.ciera.ulaval.ca/cahier/280.
- Kovach, M. 2009. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Kovach, M. 2010. "Conversation Method in Indigenous Research." First Peoples Child and Family Review 5 (1): 40–48. https://doi.org/10.7202/1069060ar.
- Kovach, M. 2018. "Doing Indigenous Methodologies: A Letter to a Research Class." In The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, 214–234. 5th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
- Lavallée, L. F. 2009. "Practical Application of an Indigenous Research Framework and Two Qualitative Indigenous Research Methods: Sharing Circles and Anishnaabe Symbol-Based Reflection." International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800103.
- NSERC, and SSHRC. 2022. "Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada." In Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, 107–133. Ottawa.
- Nungak, Z., and T. Curley. 2017. Wrestling with Colonialism on Steroids: Quebec Inuit Fight for Their Homeland. Montréal: Véhicule Press.
- O'Dowd, R. 2007. "Evaluating the Outcomes of Online Intercultural Exchange." ELT Journal 61 (2): 144–152. Doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm007.
- Pirbhai-Illich, F., S. Pete, and F. Martin, eds. 2017. "The Influence of the Colonial World System on Education." In Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Working Towards Decolonization, Indigeneity and Interculturalism, 10–13. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Smith, L. T. 2012. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. 2nd ed. London: Zed Books.
- Smith, L. T., E. Tuck, and K. W. Yang, eds. 2018. Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. 1st ed. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429505010.
- Statistics Canada. 2021. Indigenous Languages Across Canada. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-X/2021012/98-200-X2021012-eng.cfm.
- Tester, F. J., and P. Irniq. 2008. "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Social History, Politics and the Practice of Resistance." Arctic 61: 48–61. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic101.
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 2016. The Inuit and Northern Experience. Vol. 2 of Canada’s Residential Schools: The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports .
- Tulloch, S., L. Metuq, J. Hainnu, S. Pitsiulak, E. Flaherty, C. Lee, and F. Walton. 2016. "Inuit Principals and the Changing Context of Bilingual Education in Nunavut." Etudes Inuit Studies 40 (1): 189–209. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44254680.
- UNESCO. 2022. "Indigenous Languages Decade (2022-2032)." https://www.unesco.org/en/decades/indigenous-languages.
- Usborne, E., J. Caouette, Q. Qumaaluk, and D. M. Taylor. 2009. "Bilingual Education in an Aboriginal Context: Examining the Transfer of Language Skills from Inuktitut to English or French." International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 12 (6): 667–684. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050802684388.
- Vick-Westgate, A. 2002. Nunavik: Inuit-Controlled Education in Arctic Quebec. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
- Wilson, D., A. Mikahere-Hall, and J. Sherwood. 2022. "Using Indigenous Kaupapa Maori Research Methodology with Constructivist Grounded Theory: Generating a Theoretical Explanation of Indigenous Women’s Realities." International Journal of Social Research Methodology 25 (3): 379–394.
- Wilson, S. 2008. Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Black Point, NS: Fernwood Publishing.
