Inuvik daycare's Gwich'in immersion program already seeing results

In the corner of a classroom at Inuvik's Children First daycare, Gwich'in elder Mabel English is teaching 2-year-old Shamryn Storr-Nerysoo how to count — but not in English.

The 82-year old is teaching her Gwich'in, part of Children First's new Gwich'in immersion pilot program.

"It's great. I just hurry to come here every day because I know I'm going to get through to one of them," said English.

Five kids, all between the ages of two and three, are taking part in the program, which started at the end of October and will continue until the end of March. 

The Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC) was able to secure over $300,000 in federal money to fund the pilot, approaching Children First for a partnership.

Hopes to expand to other communities

Gwich'in is a language that is on the verge of extinction, with less than 400 fluent speakers. It's also English's first language.

She's been teaching it to adults for the last 10 to 15 years, but they have a hard time picking it up, she said.

That hasn't been the same with youth. She said that one day, she said the word "car" and "school" to her one year old grandson in Gwich'in, and noticed that he was able to pick it up right away.

"Oh my golly, this kid was just talking and saying Gwich'in words so easy, and adults were having a hard time saying these words, " she said.

She mentioned the interaction to Andrew Cienski, language revitalization specialist for GTC, which helped spark the idea for the program.

"If one child came in at two, two-and-a-half years old … and then they go to school at five years old," Cienski said, "that could be eight hours a day for two and a half years. You will have a good little speaker in that time."

Cienski said that all five kids in the pilot program have a parent that's Gwich'in.

Ciesnski said English is a part-time instructor in the program, but they also have a full-time instructor fluent in Gwich'in and another instructor that is a trained child-care worker.

The kids started attending the immersion pilot project in October, but it will go until March.

Cienski said this year, GTC is focusing on "having people actually learning, engaging." He said this program is part of that initiative, and they hope to have it in other Gwich'in communities.

He mentioned that in the Beaufort Delta Region, there are less than 100 Gwich'in speakers, saying that number understates the importance of initiatives like the youth pilot program.

GTC is also in its third year of a mentor-apprentice program, where an adult learner will work with a fluent speaker. He said the program has gone from about 4 participants to 18.

Each family who enrolled their child in the Children First pilot project filled out an application that spoke about the importance of their child learning the Gwich'in language.

"We are always trying to implement language and culture into the daily program, so it's really exciting to have this opportunity to implement the language nest," said Patricia Davison,  Executive Director of the Children First Society.

Davison said the next stage of the program will be getting "something for the families, so they could learn as well."

She said they have already had funders approach them, so the pilot project can be funded longer and hopefully extended.

Cienski says they want it funded year round, and to keep the program going indefinitely.

English said she sees progress already and feels like this program can have a lasting impact.

"I got hope … some of them are already saying few words in Gwich'in," said English. "Oh my golly, hope."