End of funding for holistic Michif program brings fears endangered Métis language won't survive
Mira Kolodka moved to Brandon, Man., from Win‐ nipeg to help preserve the southern Michif language. She says it was her respon‐ sibility as a young Métis woman to help strengthen and revitalize a vital part of her culture.
Since September 2022, Kolodka has been participat‐ ing in the Michif Master/Men‐ tor-Apprentice (MAP) Lan‐ guage House. Its goal was to increase the number of fluent Michif speakers and share the language with future genera‐ tions.
But on Jan. 9, she and five other participants found out they were losing their fi‐ nancial 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 fund‐ ing, she said. Participants were driven to help the lan‐ guage 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 house‐ hold 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 men‐ tor, worked with apprentices through the Prairies to Wood‐ lands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle, in part‐ nership with the Louis Riel In‐ stitute (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 op‐ portunities are needed for young people and elders to connect and strengthen Michif.
Statistics Canada reports there are 1,845 Michif speak‐ ers in Canada, and 40 live in Manitoba. DeMontigny and others say the number of flu‐ ent speakers is likely much lower.
As part of the MAP House project, staff also attended the Teaching Indigenous Lan‐ guages 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 end‐ ing," DeMontigny said. "We're not done by a long shot."
Ottawa brings in new approach
Heather Souter runs the nonprofit Prairies to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revital‐ ization Circle. It oversaw the house and program from its inception in September 2022 until March 2023, in partner‐ ship with LRI.
She said research shows that master-apprentice pro‐ grams 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 re‐ sponsibility for it," she said.
CBC News reached out to LRI for comment but has not received a response.
In a statement, the Mani‐ toba Métis Federation (MMF) said LRI had been accessing the funding directly from the Department of Canadian Her‐ itage, through its Indigenous languages program, up until
March 2023. It has been re‐ sponsible for all costs associ‐ ated with MAP House.
However, starting on April 1, 2023, Canadian Her‐ itage implemented a new ap‐ proach to providing funding support for Métis languages. Funding for projects like MAP House is no longer granted through an application pro‐ cess but is instead paid di‐ rectly to Métis National Coun‐ cil governing members and the MMF.
The MMF says this means a more strategic approach to language preservation is needed and involves a re‐ structuring of LRI and its pro‐ grams.
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In a statement, Canadian Heritage said the federal gov‐ ernment "has provided his‐ toric 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 $26,595,149 in grants for Michif language programs from Canadian Heritage since 2019.
Funding a 'consistent concern'
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made recom‐ mendations to preserve, pro‐ mote and revitalize Indige‐ nous languages. In 2019, Ot‐ tawa passed legislation creat‐ ing an Office of the Commis‐ sioner of Indigenous Lan‐ guages. 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 con‐ sistent 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 govern‐ ments 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 pro‐ gram, created a space for learners to develop their lan‐ guage and teaching skills so they could deliver courses to future generations, said Shelley Tulloch, the chair of the anthropology depart‐ ment at the University of Win‐ nipeg and co-coordinator of its Indigenous languages pro‐ gram.
This is critical because more Michif speakers are needed to pass on the lan‐ guage, she said.
"I would love to see more programs like this opening ... expanding," Tulloch said. "I'm really hopeful for these stu‐ dents ... in the long term keep learning the language and be‐ come teachers of Michif for the next generation."
Language 'not going to survive'
Janelle Zazalak, lead ap‐ prentice and house co-ordina‐ tor, said as a younger person learning Michif, it's devastat‐ ing seeing MAP House end.
There are no other pro‐ grams 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," Zaza‐ lak 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 ac‐ tion and funding are needed because there are fewer and fewer fluent Michif speakers and elders who speak the lan‐ guage are dying.
"Right now this is our liv‐ ing. 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 nec‐ essarily come back if the fund‐ ing comes back in a year or two."
Kolodka said with the pro‐ gram over, the only thing that's certain about her fu‐ ture 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 peo‐ ple," she said. "I believe it's a lifelong path."
But it's harder to do with‐ out financial support and being immersed in the lan‐ guage, 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 disas‐ trous for future generations of Michif speakers.
"The elders are ... starting to go to the spirit world, and they're going to take this lan‐ guage with them," she said. "Michif and other languages [are] going to be extinct."