Language
Language: Self-reported Ojibwe understanding (none/any/easily) & speaking (none/some/fluent).
262 Matching Annotations
- Sep 2025
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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Demographics
Demographics: Age, gender, education, income, poverty status, reservation residency.
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Potential participants
218 Ojibwe adults recruited from tribal health clinics (75% participation rate).
Eligibility: 18+, American Indian identity, type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
Compensation: $30 + local wild rice.
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The data
Community-based participatory research with two Ojibwe communities (Lac Courte Oreilles & Bois Forte).
Approved by tribal and university boards; involved Community Research Councils.
Focused on Ojibwe adults with type 2 diabetes.
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this study intends to more clearly delineate therelationship between language, demographic variables, and other cultural variables in astudy of Ojibwe adults
This study aims to clarify distinct roles of language, demographics, and culture in health.
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Participants of one qualitative study describeIndigenous language as a critical and inseparable aspect of culture without which Indigenouspeople would be incapable of surviving
One study (Oster et al. 2014) found language inseparable from culture, foundational to survival.
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it is difficult from these studies to predict the relationshipbetween language and health outcomes
Researchers link cultural identity/activities to improved mental health, but definitions vary.
Some scales incorporate language; others ignore it → inconsistent predictions about language-health connections.
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Few researchers focus on Indigenous language as a separate concept from culture withunique qualities that may not only affect health outcomes but may also enhance the effectsof other cultural variables (identity, traditional activities, beliefs, etc.) on health
Few studies separate language from culture, though language may uniquely shape health.
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there arenumerous contextual factors to consider when interpreting results.
Key issue: negative results often tied to geographic isolation, poverty, and systemic discrimination, not language itself.
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Researchers have looked increasingly to culture to improve health behaviors, compilingmore evidence that culture may prevent and treat health outcomes such as depression andsubstance abuse
Research links culture to health; language rarely studied as separate factor. Positive findings: ・Youth who speak Indigenous language less likely to abuse substances. ・Greater language knowledge correlates with lower youth suicide rates. ・Stronger language knowledge linked to lower type 2 diabetes prevalence.
Negative findings: ・Some studies link Indigenous language use to sadness, poor community well-being, and reduced healthcare access.
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Researchers have looked increasingly to culture to improve health behaviors, compilingmore evidence that culture may prevent and treat health outcomes such as depression andsubstance abuse
Research links culture to health; language rarely studied as separate factor. Positive findings: ・Youth who speak Indigenous language less likely to abuse substances. ・Greater language knowledge correlates with lower youth suicide rates. ・Stronger language knowledge linked to lower type 2 diabetes prevalence.
Negative findings: ・Some studies link Indigenous language use to sadness, poor community well-being, and reduced healthcare access.
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language preservation is critical to communication betweengenerations, communication with the spirit world, and the transmission of teachings(concepts, symbolism, oral stories) within cultural, spiritual, and religious practices
Language supports ceremonies, oral traditions, and spiritual practices. Loss of language = loss of cultural values, weakening identity and health.
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Language transmits ideas, beliefs, and knowledge, thereby enhancing social support,interpersonal relationships, and shared identity (Chandler and Lalonde 1998).
Language sustains community, identity, and intergenerational knowledge transfer. Speaking and understanding one's language goes beyond communication: holds epistemologies, belief systems, and cultural worldviews.
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Language revitalization efforts are receiving growingattention within Ojibwe communities,
Ojibwe revitalization = immersion schools, adult language nests, policy initiatives naming Ojibwe official.
Urgency driven by aging elders as primary first-language speakers.
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Indigenous people across the globe are revitalizing their native languages.
Global movements: Maori (NZ), Hawaiians, and U.S. tribes serve as revitalization models.
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Although the Ojibwe language is considered severely endangered, as are many Indigenouslanguages (Moseley 2010), it is also considered capable of revitalization based on thenumber of first- and second-language speakers (Norris and MacCon 2003).
Language (Ojibwe) considered endangered but still viable with >8,000 speakers, many off-reservation.
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Health-based researchers have studied and arestudying the connection between culture and improved health (Rowan et al. 2014), yet wehave not fully explored how language fits into the broader umbrella of cultural values andactivities
Despite diversity, many share cultural value systems tied to health and community well-being.
Language fits within broader cultural values but is understudied in relation to health outcomes.
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Ojibwe people call themselves “Anishinaabe,” which has been given various meanings byhistorians and linguists
The Ojibwe call themselves “Anishinaabe,” a unifying term with multiple meanings. It serves as both a cultural marker and a symbol of resilience in language and cultural revitalization.
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To stop now would be yet another representation of Canada’s monumental failure of Indigenous people.
Final warning: Stopping efforts now would perpetuate historical failure of Canada toward Indigenous peoples.
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revitalization efforts.
Recommendations: ・Better funding and program access. ・Respect for Indigenous learning methodologies. ・Community-led revitalization.
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future research
Research needs: Identify barriers in education, dismantle Western-centric ideologies, create inclusive structures for all generations.
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Given the benefits attributed to Indigenous language acquisition,
Importance of language: Central to identity, health, and cultural survival.
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Through acts of systemic racism and oppression, Indigenous language and culture were pushed to the brink of extinction.
Colonial legacy: Systemic oppression nearly eradicated Indigenous languages.
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Language revitalization solutions must also be sought at the governmental level
Government: Slow to act historically (apology only in 2008). 2021: Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages established → shift in priorities.
Need for activism: Society + institutions can push government action.
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solutions specific to adult learners
Adult learners: Gap in programs; adults need urgent language training. Incentives could help (financial rewards, paid positions).
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Early immersion programs are another solution at the educational level.
Immersion programs: Early immersion → stronger academic and identity outcomes.
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Universities represent continual learning and innovation in society and are often the first institutions to adapt operations to changing societal expectations.
Universities: ・Can drive innovation but face challenges (hierarchy favoring Western knowledge, revenue-driven funding). ・Indigenous programs often underfunded and marginalized. ・Some successes: University of Alberta, University of Fraser Valley, CILLDI, UBC FNEL.
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Indigenous people have lost the rights to these ancestral lands,
Land dispossession: Loss of access to ancestral lands makes traditional foods (e.g., Sylix First Nation’s Four Food Chiefs) less accessible.
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gaps related to traditional food and nutrition, which has caused widespread negative health implications.
Diet and health: Language/cultural loss disrupts food traditions, contributing to malnutrition. Westernized diets: Over-processed, calorie-dense, low-nutrient foods now common.
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residential schools stripped Indigenous children of their cultural rights and portrayed them as outcasts while bans on cultural displays communicated that Indigenous history was inherently unimportant.
Silence of elders: Older generations may refrain from sharing due to shame or trauma.
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primarily rely on art
Survival through traditions: Some continuity through art, clothing, and rituals.
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Cultural knowledge and identity among Indigenous communities have been declining with each passing generation
Decline of knowledge/identity: Each generation loses more cultural knowledge due to language erosion.
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Canadians must be more respectful of Indigenous communities
Solution: Greater respect from Canadian society could help restore pride, language, and well-being.
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abandoning one’s culture, history, and language has resulted in severely negative effects among Indigenous communities
Cycle: Assimilation reduces cultural pride → worsens health and community cohesion.
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The Canadian government, justice system, and even the healthcare system have demonstrated racist behavior towards Indigenous people
Systemic racism: Found in government, justice, and healthcare systems. Language consequences: Fear of discrimination → younger generations abandon language to assimilate.
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Experiencing racism is known to negatively impact one’s mental health, causing depression and anxiety, decreasing self-worth, inciting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and threatening one’s sense of personal safety
Mental health effects: Racism causes depression, anxiety, PTSD, low self-worth, safety concerns. Physical effects: Linked to poor sleep, appetite changes, fatigue. Youth impact: Adolescents exposed to ongoing racism are at higher risk of suicide, substance abuse, behavioral issues.
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many residential school survivors have shared experiences of sexual abuse in the schools
Consequences: Survivors more likely to attempt suicide, face developmental/mental health issues, and perpetuate cycles of abuse → further disrupts cultural and linguistic continuity.
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inevitable isolation for residential school students, even after they exited this system.
Isolation: Students felt disconnected from family/community after being punished for speaking native languages.
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he impact of residential schools continues to affect older Indigenous adults
Legacy of residential schools: Elders suffer PTSD and trauma even decades after closures. Intergenerational trauma: Children of survivors inherit effects, including weakened language transmission.
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Sivak et al. [41] explain eight themes about the connection between language and culture: connection to body, connection to mind and emotions, connection to family, connection to community, connection to culture, connection to country, and connection to spirit, spirituality, and ancestors.
Themes (Sivak et al.): language connects body, mind/emotions, family, community, culture, land, spirit, ancestors.
Language reclamation improves mood, belonging, happiness, and community strength.
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it is possible for Indigenous children to feel as though their culture, heritage, and language are unvalued by those around them, further decreasing their motivation to learn about their ancestry and history.
Some Indigenous youth perceive culture/heritage as undervalued in wider society → discourages cultural connection.
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families are unable to effectively share their complex history. Without a connection to the comprehensive spiritual teachings of their familial elders in their ancestral language, this could create feelings of seclusion
Generational gap: elders fluent, grandchildren not → communication breakdown. Leads to isolation, seclusion, loneliness → precursors to later mental health issues.
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tend to lack the same extensive knowledge of their familial history that would have previously been passed down
Language loss disrupts oral tradition → youth lack knowledge of history.
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suicide rates
Suicide rates 6x higher in communities where <50% speak ancestral language.
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cultural continuity
Cultural continuity (through language) = better health outcomes.
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the negative impact of residential schools, including the loss of language and culture, with adverse mental health effects, substance abuse, and suicide
Negative consequences of residential schools → trauma, substance abuse, suicide, poor mental health.
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Language is closely tied to cultural identity, a fundamental right of every human being
Language = tied to cultural identity and mental health (UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples).
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By listening to Indigenous voices,
History shows systematic erasure of language + culture, creating long-lasting
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the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Report
2002 INAC report → many Indigenous languages extinct or nearly extinct. 2021 discovery of 215 children at Kamloops residential school → renewed awareness + urgency.
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the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Report
2002 INAC report → many Indigenous languages extinct or nearly extinct. 2021 discovery of 215 children at Kamloops residential school → renewed awareness + urgency.
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1982 that the repatriated Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Even post-1982 Charter of Rights → Indigenous languages not recognized as rights.
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The ban remained in place for more than sixty years, from 1886 to 1951. During this time, the status of Indigenous culture declined immeasurabl
Other policies: Gradual Civilization Act (1857), cultural bans until 1951.
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The residential school system, which was operational in Canada until 1996, inarguably dealt the heaviest blow to Indigenous languages
Residential schools (1876–1996): ・Forced assimilation of children. ・Children separated from parents/siblings. ・Speaking native languages punished → corporal punishment. ・Language + cultural practices (e.g., Potlatch, ceremonies) banned.
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English and French have historically been portrayed as superior languages in Canada, whereas Indigenous languages have been characterized as “primitive”
Colonialism = ongoing system of oppression → alienation of land + assimilation policies. Indigenous languages historically framed as “primitive,” barriers to modernity.
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This paper aims to understand the ramifications of language loss by further exploring the relationship between language, identity, and health through a sociological lens. Furthermore, recommendations to improve adult Indigenous language programs are proposed so that institutions offer support to Indigenous communities in their area
Article's goal: explore consequences of language loss (identity + health) + propose remedies (adult language programs, institutional change).
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a strong cultural identity is a primary and important psychosocial determinant of health and well-being for Indigenous populations
Language loss tied to culture + self-identity → without language, cultural identity weakens, leading to psychosocial impacts. Strong cultural identity = better mental health outcomes.
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This sentiment is echoed by many Indigenous groups, who also recognize that loss of language leads to a loss of culture; subsequently, this results in substantial impacts on a person’s sense of self-identity
This phrase recognizes that loss of language leads to a loss of culture, indicating that language and cultural attachment has a correlation.
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ancestral language is essential and foundational to the collective Indigenous identity
Indigenous language is essential to the collective identity of the tribe.
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Language is more than just a mode of communication, especially for Indigenous communities that have long endured the attempted erasure of their culture and heritage. Instead, language should be viewed as a natural resource
Language seen as more than communication → a “natural resource” needing stewardship.
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It then becomes clear that the neglect and loss of some of Cameroon’sindigenous languages has definitely led to a loss of a huge part of thecountry’s identity, and that failure to overturn the situation will lead tomore serious consequences.
Language is not just a communication tool but a marker of identity and intergenerational responsibility (Fishman, 2001). Thus, the loss of indigenous languages through education policy translates directly into a weakening of cultural belonging and identity for children.
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The foregoing notwithstanding,language cannot be separated from society and as such it is impossible tooverlook the cultural consequences that indigenous language neglect hascaused in Cameroon.
Many indigenous languages have become endangered or extinct as a result of Cameroon's neglect of them, demonstrating how a lack of educational transmission contributes to the loss of cultural heritage.
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even before European colonialism,Cameroon was not a linguistically homogeneous entity but rather a territorywithin which ethnic groups from various parts of Africa coexisted and usedvarious linguas francas for intertribal communication.
different types of language coexisted even before colonization. different ethic groups inside of a large group (country)
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