by Michael Odegaard, Indigenous Languages Editor (pictured above)
On December 18, 1992 the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 47/135, the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities that affirms these human rights to be enjoyed freely in public and private, and “without any interference or any form of discrimination” (Article 2.1). Article 13 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 2007, endorsed by the USA in 2010, affirms indigenous persons have the right to transmit their languages to future generations, and in 2014 all member UN states affirmed their obligation to remedy past deprivations of indigenous linguistic rights. The UN International Decade for Indigenous Languages (IDIL) 2022-2032 was proclaimed to focus global attention on the need to take national measures to implement the linguistic human rights of indigenous peoples.
Both Mexico and Canada have adopted Indigenous Languages acts recognizing the equality of rights for their states’ indigenous languages as well as Canada’s responsibility to revitalize its languages. Canada’s IDIL “2023-2028 Action Plan” includes 181 important measures that 1) reflect priorities and proposals identified by First Nations, Inuit and Mētis that contribute to achieving the objectives of the UNDRIP as well as align with specific topics covered by the UNDRIP which became law in that country in 2021. Kristen Carpenter, American Indian Law Program Director at the University of Colorado at Boulder and 2018 founder of the Native American Rights Fund (https://www.narf.org) which has launched The Implementation Project (https://un-declaration.narf.org/) to achieve the aims of the UNDRIP reports, however, that the Biden Administration has failed to establish an action plan or any other mechanisms for implementation of the goals of the Decade. Nevertheless American Indian tribes are implementing their own plans, and In 2021 the Implementation Project launched its Tribal Implementation Toolkit in partnership with the UCLA School of Law.
What is the prognosis for support to complete an action plan from the next federal administration? The broadened base that elected President Trump earlier this month may reflect his prior appointment of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch who enjoys 81% agreement by his peers and has a solid understanding of federal Indian Law and the US government’s responsibility to tribes, however if President Trump’s last administration is any indication of the future, indigenous leaders must step up engagement to ensure continued federal support for ongoing indigenous language revitalization efforts and additionally needed measures to normalize bilingualism in the public realm.
