Redress for Linguistic Genocide in Canada

February 17, 2022 at 12:30 PM Pacific Time

A public lecture by Prof. Lorena Sekwan Fontaine (University of Winnipeg/currently San Diego State University) 

Organized by USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

From the late 19th century until 1996, Indigenous children were forcibly placed into residential schools across Canada. The federal government and the churches worked in partnership to eradicate Indigenous languages and cultures in these schools. Canadian law required Indigenous parents to send their children to these school or face imprisonment.

Over 10,000 residential school survivors launched court claims against Canada and the churches for the abuses they endured. A settlement agreement was reached in 2007 that included the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian residential schools and then a National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation that holds over 7,000 statements from survivors and their descendants. In 2019, the Indigenous Languages Act was implemented to support language revitalization efforts. This talk will examine the legacy of cultural and linguistic genocide and Canada’s attempt to provide redress.

Professor Lorena Sekwan Fontaine is serving as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Studies at San Diego State University in 2022. She is Cree-Anishnaabe and a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Canada. Both her parents and maternal and paternal grandparents are residential school survivors. Dr. Fontaine is co-founder and co-director of an Indigenous languages program and an Associate Professor in Human Rights at the University of Winnipeg. Her research includes linguicide, the legacy of residential schools and Indigenous language rights in Canada.

Image Description: The event image above is from a classroom in the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School, Manitoba, Canada, circa 1949. Theodore Fontaine, who was incarcerated for 12 years in two Indian residential schools, is pictured in the second row, visible between the two boys in the front row. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Fontaine)