Maskwa Investments Invests in Indigenous Streetwear Brand SECTION 35 to Support Its Next Phase of Growth
ne of Canada’s most endangered dialects isn’t being reawakened in classrooms or on Duolingo. Instead, it’s finding new life inside the virtual world where kids already spend their time.
“We have to go to the platforms they are on and not only teach through play, but teach through building.”
Josh Nilson, Michif RP
Michif is the language officially spoken by Métis people, broken into Northern Michif (the language used in this game), French Michif, and Southern Michif. According to the 2021 Census, more than 624,000 people in Canada identify as Métis, yet only 1,485 people can hold a conversation in Michif. For decades, reclamation efforts leaned on pamphlets and books; vehicles young people associated with homework, or might see as distant, formal, and disconnected. To survive, a language has to live where youth already live: online.
