Making Native-Language Policy in Ontario in the 1980s

Abstract

The 1979-80 Northern Native-Languages Project was
 influential in developing provincial policy for teaching Native
 languages as subjects of instruction, and for certifying
 Native-language teachers in Ontario. It also led to the
 development of culturally relevant English-as-a-second-language
 materials for use in schools serving Native students in northern
 Ontario. The project was unable, however, to advance the notion
 of Native languages as languages of instruction. This article
 will summarize its key recommendations, examine the reactions of
 the stakeholders, describe the policy-making processes and the
 policy decisions, and examine the impact of those decisions,
 particularly on the role of Native languages in Ontario schools.
 Although the Ontario Ministry of Education, often viewed as an
 obstacle in the advancement of Native education, was prepared to
 fully endorse the use of Native languages as instructional
 languages, opposition from officials in the Ontario Regional
 Office of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
 Development caused the province to abandon this position. The
 suppression of Native languages in church-operated federal
 residential schools is often cited as a factor in the declining
 use of those languages and it is often assumed that the federal
 government’s 1973 commitment to Indian Control of Indian
 Education (ICIE) heralded significant changes in Indian
 education. This study shows that, despite ICIE, policy decisions
 in Ontario served to continue the suppression of Native
 languages, assigning them a token role in virtually all Ontario
 schools operated by the federal government and by provincial
 school boards. While policy-makers recognized that many northern
 Native students experienced difficulties with school
 achievement, they attributed these learning problems to an
 English deficit; their solution was to immerse students in
 English.