Public pedagogy: linguicide, settler responsibility, and Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The Calls to Action of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in many ways focused on language.  In this talk, Dr. Jane Griffith will share her research on English language instruction in Indian residential schools, revealing attempts at linguicide--what Andrea Bear Nicholas defines as killing a language, not (necessarily) the speaker.

Dr. Griffith will connect this research to Indigenous resistance evidenced in fiction and memoirs by survivors, and offer insights from future work on the promises and pitfalls of public pedagogy for understanding tangible, long-term support for Indigenous language resurgence not as charity but as responsibility.