Marie Wilcox passed away last September in the small town of Visalia, California. She was 87 years old. It probably wouldn’t have been a big deal if Marie Wilcox hadn’t been the last person to speak Wukchumni fluently, the native language of the Wokuts nation in California.
Marie Wilcox knew she was the custodian of an endangered heritage. This is why she had spent 20 years of her life creating a wukchumni dictionary, to give it as a heritage to humanity. This “legacy” means that today, three people were able to learn the language, which has not completely disappeared in the haze.
In short, the story ends well, or in any case, not so bad. But the same cannot be said of the 4,000 indigenous languages that still somehow survive in the world.
According to the United Nations, two indigenous languages disappear on average every month. And at least 400 are threatened with extinction for lack of speakers, education, literature, succession or political will.
In Canada alone, it is estimated that half of the 50 to 90 languages spoken by First Nations (the figure is debatable) could disappear within 10 to 15 years, “and again, this tends to be underestimated. Says Henry Thomas Davis, professor of linguistics at the University of British Columbia.
According to Mr. Davis, Saanich would no longer be spoken by more than 5 people, Lillooet by less than 10 people, Squamich by a single person for whom it is the first language (L1), Sechelt by a handful of individuals, or none at all. All of these languages are found on the west coast of Canada.
The very informative site of endangered languages also tells us that Ofayé (Brazil) is spoken by less than 16 people, Dyirbal (Australia) by 6 people and Korana (South Africa) by a single person.
The list goes on and on and on. “There is currently a linguistic crisis in the world, summarizes Henry Thomas Davis. And it affects the indigenous populations massively ”, who represent 6.2% of the world population.
The phenomenon is not new and is increasing at the rate of globalization, the omnipresence of the media, the lack of transmission levers or certain national policies, which seek to homogenize their linguistic landscape (China, Brazil). In this regard, Henry Thomas Davis speaks quite simply of a “continuation of colonialism”.
In short, a cultural tragedy is playing out before our eyes. Due to neglect, disinterest, assimilation, languages are dying, and with them, part of the heritage of humanity.
Beyond linguistic challenges strictly speaking, identity issues are also played out for the indigenous populations, who see their history and their culture crumble directly, with a significant psychological impact, as studies have shown.
The great ambitions of the UN
All this to say that the United Nations (UN) has just launched its International Decade of Indigenous Languages, which is to last until 2032.
This project is neither more nor less the extension of the “international year of indigenous languages” of 2019, deemed insufficient due to the scale of the crisis.
Described by UNESCO as a “tool for linguistic recovery”, it essentially aims “to revive and transmit indigenous languages”, through a number of resolutions and proposals on a global scale.
Behind these great ambitions, one can obviously wonder about the impacts of this vast program. In the absence of a legal framework to strengthen its proposals or declarations, the UN remains limited in its actions, each State being responsible for applying them at the local or national level. The United Nations, for example, could not force Canada to add Indigenous languages to its two official languages, even though this issue is currently the subject of debate.
Despite my optimism, I doubt anything really concrete will come out of this great project. It will all depend on what the different countries do with it locally.
Christine Schreyer, professor of linguistic anthropology at the University of British Columbia
This specialist in indigenous languages is particularly concerned that the “resolutions taken during this decade will take a long time to put in place”, while endangered languages will continue to die out at an accelerated rate. Let us recall here that Canada took three years to ratify the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted in 2007, even if it has since worked hard to make up for lost time, by implementing its federal law on the rights of indigenous peoples. Indigenous Languages in 2019, which notably led to the appointment of the very first Indigenous Languages Commissioner (Ron Ignace).
Christine Schreyer’s concerns are not shared by her colleague Michelle Daveluy, from Laval University. On the contrary, the anthropologist sees this “Decade” as a golden opportunity to take stock of this pressing question. Even if it is “not perfect in many respects”, the UN project will have the advantage of “sensitizing the populations” to the tragedy at play and making it “a topical subject”, underlines Mme Daveluy.
Henry Thomas Davis adds for his part that the indigenous populations will be able to take hold of the UN declarations to “send them back like a mirror” to their governments and thus increase the pressure.
“The UN cannot impose anything on countries, finally admits Maung Ting Nyeu, researcher at Harvard and New York University. But it plays an important mediating role between nation states and indigenous peoples who do not have the same vision of identity. It makes it possible to avoid litigation and to raise the awareness of governments… This often results in financial support and changes in language policies… ”