July 14, 2011 - Monday marked the start of the second annual NWT Aboriginal Languages Summer Institute. A partnership between the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) and the University of Victoria Certificate Program in Aboriginal Language Revitalization, the two-week Institute runs from July 11th to the 23rd, 2011 and brings together 19 participants from across the NWT.

“Language and culture play a large role in creating a strong and prosperous North,” says Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Jackson Lafferty. “Our territory is culturally rich, but we still have a lot of work to do to strengthen and maintain these cultures. We are striving to enable more people to speak their Aboriginal language in the coming years.”

The partnership with University of Victoria (UVic) program capitalizes on the University’s relationship with the En'owkin Centre, the post-secondary educational institution of the Okanagan First Nations known for its commitment to language revitalization. En'owkin Centre and University of Victoria staff and faculty worked closely with ECE’s Official Languages Division and community language coordinators to develop the Institute. The program is being delivered at the Yellowknife Campus of Aurora College.

The long-term objective of this initiative is establishing the delivery of this language institute program as a regular language revitalization program. Plans are already under way for an expanded Aboriginal Languages Institute to be offered in partnership with the University of Victoria later this fiscal year.

For more information, please contact:

Ashley Green
Public Affairs Officer
Education, Culture and Employment
Telephone: (867) 920-3059
Email: ashley_green@gov.nt.ca