Editing Mi'kmaq language (section)

==Language revitalization efforts and teaching==
The Miꞌkmaq language possesses a [[degree of endangerment]] level of vulnerable under the [[Red Book of Endangered Languages|UNESCO]] Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger scale.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger |url=http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap.html |access-date=2020-12-11 |website=www.unesco.org}}</ref> A level of vulnerable means the language may not be used consistently and instead the dominant language English is opted for.<ref name=":0" /> This also means it is still somewhat commonly spoken by younger generations or children of Miꞌkmaq people.<ref name=":0" /> A lack of fluent Miꞌkmaq speakers is due to the [[cultural genocide]] performed by the Canadian government through the introduction of the [[Canadian Indian residential school system]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=MacDonald |first1=David B. |last2=Hudson |first2=Graham |date=2012 |title=The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23320978 |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=427–449 |doi=10.1017/S000842391200039X|jstor=23320978 |s2cid=154633673 |issn=0008-4239|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These schools under the notation of assimilation, forced Indigenous children to reject their cultural identity and language.<ref name=":2" /> These schools resulted in a significant number of children physically and mentally abused and without the means to speak their mother tongue.

Wagmatcook, Cape Breton, is undergoing significant efforts to revitalize the language. The community created a variety of children's books suited for a range of ages to develop Miꞌkmaq language skills as children mature.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Donna-Lee|last2=Peck |first2=Josephine |date=2004-09-01 |title=WKSITNUOW WEJKWAPNIAQEWA – MI'KMAQ: A VOICE FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE Dawn |url=https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/8760 |journal=McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill |language=en |volume=39 |issue=3 |issn=1916-0666}}</ref> The use of Miꞌkmaq immersion schools in this area also increased the proficiency in the language for children and an improved attachment to their Indigenous identity.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Usborne |first1=Esther |last2=Peck |first2=Josephine |last3=Smith |first3=Donna-Lee|last4=Taylor |first4=Donald M. |date=2011 |title=Learning through an Aboriginal Language: The Impact on Students' English and Aboriginal Language Skills |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/canajeducrevucan.34.4.200 |journal=Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=200–215 |issn=0380-2361}}</ref> The immersion schools allowed children to learn their mother tongue, which increases the number of fluent speakers while still obtaining the dominant language.<ref name=":3" /> Community member educators also participated in a program to obtain a Certificate in Aboriginal Literacy Education that increased their fluency in the language.<ref name=":1" />

[[Cape Breton University]]'s Unamaꞌki College specializes "in Miꞌkmaq history, culture and education". As of 2013, "it has some 250 aboriginal students".<ref name="beswick">{{Cite news |last = Beswick |first = Truro |title = Efforts gain strength across N.S. to ensure future for Miꞌkmaq language |work = The Chronicle Herald |location = Halifax, NS |access-date = 2013-10-24 |date = 2013-10-16 |url = http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1161000-efforts-gain-strength-across-ns-to-ensure-future-for-mi-kmaq-language }}</ref>

{{blockquote|"Parents come to me and say they hear their children in the backseat of the car speaking Miꞌkmaq and they're excited", said the Miꞌkmaq language instructor at Lnu Siꞌpuk Kinaꞌmuokuom Miꞌkmaq school in [[Indian Brook 14|Indian Brook]]. Miꞌkmaq language courses are mandatory from grades Primary to 12 at the school, which only opened six years ago. Evening classes are starting as of Oct. 2013.}}

Also as of 2013, [[Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia]]'s Miꞌkmaq Burial Grounds Research and Restoration Association has about forty students in its Miꞌkmaq language revitalization classes, and Miꞌkmaq greetings are becoming more common in public places.<ref>{{Cite news |last = Myslik |first = Jaime |title = Miꞌkmaq is making a comeback in a Nova Scotia community – Politics – CBC News |work = CBC News : Politics |access-date = 2014-03-28 |date = 2014-03-25 |url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mi-kmaq-is-making-a-comeback-in-a-nova-scotia-community-1.2557138 }}</ref>

In 2021, Emma Stevens, a member of the [[Eskasoni First Nation]], recorded a cover version of the Beatles song "[[Blackbird (Beatles song)|Blackbird]]" in the language to raise awareness and help in its revitalization efforts.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99-LoEkAA3w youtube.com]</ref>