Words of Wisdom – The Indigenous languages that are threatened by climate change can also be used to stop it.

The United Nations estimates that one Indigenous language is lost every two weeks. 

Language loss is often attributed to the political practices of colonialism, which have dispossessed Indigenous people of their lands and rights for centuries. Forced removal, land grabs, boarding schools and other practices of colonization have forced Indigenous communities around the world to assimilate to the cultural practices of colonizers, in the process eroding Indigenous peoples’  access to traditional ways of being and speaking.

But dispossession and assimilation aren’t just caused by politics – they can also be caused by climate change.

As Indigenous communities face drought, wildfire, flooding, and other devastating natural disasters caused by the climate crisis, they often have to leave behind traditional cultural practices and assimilate to other ways of living, in the process turning away from their native tongue. 

Many Maasai, for example, have had to halt nomadic herding practices because of the impact of drought on previously fertile grazing lands. The Maasai economy, which was once based upon the trading of livestock goods, has been decimated by this change. As a result, many Maasai individuals have assimilated to the culture of the Kenyan and Tanzanian nation-states. They do so by entering into the broader commercial market economy–an economy that is not based upon the protection of their rights or lands, but rather upon non-Indigenous conceptions of property and value.

As Maasai elder Ezekiel Ole Katato explains, “Climate change and the continuous drought puts further pressure on our people. If there is no rain or aid in the coming weeks, the number of Maasai will decrease strongly. Our rich culture is threatened with extinction.”

Today it is reported that 500,000 people speak Maa, the language of the Maasai people. There is growing concern that, with the cultural erosion caused by climate change, that number could shrink to even less.

On the other side of the globe, as arctic ice melts, Inuit people are unable to travel and hunt safely on increasingly thin sheets of ice. This results in the inaccessibility of food, healthcare, and other essential services for members of the Inuit community. As it has become harder to survive in a melting world, individuals have begun to turn from traditional foodways and thus lifeways. Now, instead of following traditional hunting practices, many Inuit people purchase processed food that can be stored for warmer days ahead.

As traditional activities decline and Inuit communities are forced to assimilate to other ways of living within the broader nation-state, their languages are used less and less. The use of Inuktut, the umbrella term for languages spoken by the Inuit people, is reportedly declining by 1% every year. It is estimated that, by 2050, only 4% of Inuit people will be able to speak their native tongue.

For other Indigenous communities, the complete loss of the language spoken by their ancestors is not a future problem–it is a daily reality. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s most recent Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger estimates that there are 18 languages that only have one living speaker left.

The loss of language doesn’t just impact Indigenous communities, it also impacts the future of our planet.

Indigenous languages are tightly intertwined with traditional teachings, stories, theologies, and perspectives. These languages are thus integral to a different way of seeing the world and living in it. 

For example, Potawatomi ecologist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer explains that the Anishinaabe language grammatically recognizes other elements of the natural world as “persons,” rather than as “things.” Thus, written into the very grammar of this language is a unique form of respect for the natural world. If one views a great maple tree as a person rather than simply as an object, one may think twice about cutting her down–one may even search for what she has to teach us about other maple trees, about the natural environment, about the world.

Indigenous languages don’t just teach unique ways of seeing and respecting the world, they also include practical tools that can teach us how to function sustainably in specific ecologies. The Maasai language, for example, has been used to aid in communicating culturally specific forest management approaches. Terms unique to the language are used to inform methods of ownership, access, and control that do not exist in other language systems.

Every two weeks our world loses another Indigenous language. Every two weeks our world loses deep, ecologically focused knowledge systems that could support healthier ways of living on this planet–ways of living that could help all of us prevent the climate crisis.

There are many actions that can be taken to prevent language loss. Indigenous communities are leading the way by creating resources, teaching classes, and continuing to tell their stories in spite of centuries of loss and forced assimilation. If you would like to get involved in the fight to preserve Indigenous languages and our shared Earth, consider taking language classes, sharing information with others via conversation and social media, or donating to groups that are dedicated to cultural and linguistic preservation.