Inuktitut

Lore & Background

Before contact with Europeans, Inuktitut was solely an oral language, providing vocabulary for traditional practices and natural features. European colonialism brought formal schooling; Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries first delivered education in Inuktitut and developed writing systems. In 1928, the first residential school for Inuit opened, and English became the language of instruction. After World War II, English was promoted as the language of communication, employment, and even playgrounds, while Inuit viewed Inuktitut as central to identity.

Reader's Guide

In the 1960s, European attitudes shifted, and Inuktitut came to be seen as a language worth preserving, leading to bilingual schools. In 1969, most Inuit voted to replace federal schools with programs by the General Directorate of New Quebec, teaching in Inuktitut, English, and French. Inuktitut became an official language in the Northwest Territories in 1984, a status secured in the Northwest Territories Official Language Act, and retained when Nunavut split off in 1999. The autonomous area Nunatsiavut made Inuktitut its government language in 2005. The 2016 Canadian census reported 70,540 Inuit, with 37,570 having Inuktitut as mother tongue. The language has multiple dialects, including South Baffin, Nunavik (Nunavimmiutitut), and Nunatsiavut (Inuttitut), each with distinct writing traditions. In Nunavut, over 80% of some 24,000 Inuit speak Inuktitut, and immersion programs have been implemented to preserve it. In Quebec's Nunavik, 80.9% of Inuit speak Inuktitut, while in Labrador it is seriously endangered, with only 550 native speakers reported in 2001.

Did You Know?

• Inuktitut is written with Canadian Aboriginal syllabics.
• The 2016 Canadian census reported 37,570 people with Inuktitut as their mother tongue.
• Inuktitut became an official language in the Northwest Territories in 1984.
• The Nunatsiavut dialect (Inuttitut) has a distinct writing system developed by Moravian missionaries in the 1760s.