Editing Michif (section)

== History ==

=== Language genesis ===
In languages of mixed ethnicities, the language of the mother usually provides the grammatical system, while the language of the father provides the lexicon.<ref>Bakker, Peter. ''A Language of Our Own: The Genesis of Michif, the Mixed Cree-French Language of the Canadian Metis'', Oxford University Press, 1997.</ref> The reasons are as follows: children tend to know their mother's language better;{{dubious|date=October 2017}}<!-- what about Father-Tongue hypothesis--> in the case of the Métis, the men were often immigrants, whereas the women were native to the region.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Préfontaine. Métis Legacy: A Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1}}</ref> If the bilingual children need to use either of their parents' languages to converse with outsiders, it is most likely to be the language of their mothers. Thus, the model of language-mixing predicts that Michif should have a Cree grammatical system and French lexicon. Michif, however, has Cree verb phrases and French noun phrases. The explanation for this unusual distribution of Cree and French elements in Michif lies in the polysynthetic nature of Cree morphology. In Cree, verbs can be very complex with up to twenty morphemes, incorporated nouns and unclear boundaries between morphemes. In other words, in Cree verbs it is very difficult to separate grammar from lexicon. As a result, in Michif the grammatical and bound elements are almost all Cree, and the lexical and free elements are almost all French; verbs are almost totally Cree, because the verb consists of grammatical and bound elements. Seen in this way, it can be argued that Michif is fundamentally Cree, but with heavy French borrowing (somewhat like [[Maltese language|Maltese]], a mixed Arabic-Italian language classified as fundamentally Arabic). The Métis in addition have their own variety of French with Cree borrowings – [[Métis French]].

==== Language genesis from Michif people ====
The genesis of the Michif peoples and language has been passed through generations. The story of the creation of the Michif people and their language was told to Elder Brousse Flammand (currently the president of the Michif kaa-piikishkwaychik, or Michif Speakers Association)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-06 |title=About Brousse Flammand |url=https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/about-brousse-flammand/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623203031/https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/about-brousse-flammand/ |archive-date=2023-06-23 |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=Thinking In Michif |language=en}}</ref> by his grandparents (born 1876 and 1886). The information he gives is also told by other Michif speakers, who agree that the language was given to the Michif peoples by the Creator/God. He states that the genesis of the Michif person/nation is synonymous with the genesis of the Michif language. Both the language and the nation are creations of the Creator/God— and are symbiotic to each other.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-06 |title=The Genesis of the Michif Peoples |url=https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624164513/https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |archive-date=2023-06-24 |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=Thinking In Michif |language=en}}</ref>

The creation of a specific language for Metis people allowed for a collective identity, where Michif speakers could take action together to protect traditional territories and homelands, and share a collective history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-06 |title=The Genesis of the Michif Peoples |url=https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624164513/https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |archive-date=2023-06-24 |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=Thinking In Michif |language=en}}</ref>

=== Usage ===
In 2021, the number of Michif speakers in Canada was reported to be 1,845. However, the number of fluent Michif speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michif |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411025550/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |url-status=live }}</ref> It was probably double or triple this number at the close of the 19th century, but never much higher. Currently, Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the [[Canadian Prairies|Canadian prairie provinces]] of [[Saskatchewan]], [[Manitoba]], and [[Alberta]], and in [[North Dakota]] in the U.S.. There are about 50 speakers in [[Alberta]], all over age 60.<ref>{{cite news
| last = Ma
| first = Kevin
| title = Researcher digs into near-extinct Métis language
| work = St. Albert Gazette
| access-date = 2013-03-24
| date = 2013-03-13
| url = http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20130313/SAG0801/303139972/-1/sag0801/local-researcher-digs-into-near-extinct-m-tis-language
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221036/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20130313/SAG0801/303139972/-1/sag0801/local-researcher-digs-into-near-extinct-m-tis-language
| archive-date = 2016-03-03
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> There are some 230 speakers of Michif in the United States (down from 390 at the 1990 census),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/crg|title=Michif|website=Ethnologue|access-date=2021-02-13|archive-date=2021-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309141102/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/CRG|url-status=live}}</ref> most of whom live in North Dakota, particularly in the [[Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |title=Data Center States Results<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2020-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522224016/http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |archive-date=2011-05-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are around 300 Michif speakers in the [[Northwest Territories]], northern [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320|title=Fort Smith man wants Michif made an official language of N.W.T.|website=Cbc.ca|access-date=2021-11-30|archive-date=2021-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031115051/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Loss of language ===
In 2011, Statistics Canada reported 640 Michif speakers located mainly in Saskatchewan (40.6%), Manitoba (26.6%), and Alberta (11.7%). In the cross-reference provided by Statistics Canada, it is shown that of these 640 speakers, only 30 are below 24 years of age. Furthermore, only 85 people declared Michif to be their main home language (45 their sole language); and of these, 65 were 50 or older. Unfortunately, these numbers do not reflect the actual number of speakers of the mixed variety of Michif in Canada, since the statistical survey did not differentiate between regional differences, including Michif Cree, Michif French, or mixed Michif.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mazzoli |first=Maria |title=Challenges and opportunities for collaborative language research: The Michif case study. |journal=Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics}}</ref>

In 2021, the number of Michif speakers in Canada was reported to be 1,845. However, the number of fluent Michif speakers is estimated at fewer than 1,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michif |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411025550/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michif |archive-date=2021-04-11 |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref> It was probably double or triple this number at the close of the 19th century, but never much higher. Currently, Michif is spoken in scattered Métis communities in the [[Canadian Prairies|Canadian prairie provinces]] of [[Saskatchewan]], [[Manitoba]], and [[Alberta]], and in [[North Dakota]] in the U.S.. There are about 50 speakers in [[Alberta]], all over age 60.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ma |first=Kevin |date=2013-03-13 |title=Researcher digs into near-extinct Métis language |url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20130313/SAG0801/303139972/-1/sag0801/local-researcher-digs-into-near-extinct-m-tis-language |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221036/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20130313/SAG0801/303139972/-1/sag0801/local-researcher-digs-into-near-extinct-m-tis-language |archive-date=2016-03-03 |access-date=2013-03-24 |work=St. Albert Gazette}}</ref> There are some 230 speakers of Michif in the United States (down from 390 at the 1990 census),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michif |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/crg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309141102/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/CRG |archive-date=2021-03-09 |access-date=2021-02-13 |website=Ethnologue}}</ref> most of whom live in North Dakota, particularly in the [[Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data Center States Results<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522224016/http://www.mla.org/map_data_states%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26lang_id%3D816 |archive-date=2011-05-22 |access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref> There are around 300 Michif speakers in the [[Northwest Territories]], northern [[Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Smith man wants Michif made an official language of N.W.T. |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031115051/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/michif-metis-nwt-official-language-1.3475320 |archive-date=2021-10-31 |access-date=2021-11-30 |website=Cbc.ca}}</ref>

In Metis communities’, there has been a clear shift towards the European languages. Today, all Michif speakers are also fluent (if not dominant) in English, and Metis adult and youth speak English (or French and English) as their first language(s).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mazzoli |first=Maria |date=2019 |title=Michif loss and resistance in four Metis communities. Kahkiyaw mashchineenaan,“All of us are disappearing as in a plague” |journal=Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien |pages=96–117 |via=Google Scholar}}</ref> The reason why Michif has so few speakers and is in need of active revitalization efforts is a direct result of [[Colonization of Canada|colonization]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tricia Logan |date=2015 |title=Settler colonialism in Canada and the Métis |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2015.1096589 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=433–452 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2015.1096589 |s2cid=74114618 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526093625/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2015.1096589 |archive-date=2024-05-26 |access-date=2023-06-23}}</ref> Judy Iseke, an Albertan Metis scholar, argues that “language shift towards English and other colonial languages in Indigenous communities was not a ‘natural’ process but rather was a shift towards the decline of Indigenous languages, propelled by colonial schooling designed to ‘civilize’ Indigenous children and turn them into citizens conforming to 'white' standards."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iseke |first=Judy M. |date=2013 |title=Negotiating Métis culture in Michif: disrupting Indigenous language shift. |journal=Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society |volume=2 |issue=2}}</ref>

=== Language revitalization ===
Revitalizing the Michif language is important to Métis people. Language is regarded as culturally significant and holds more value than just the attributes studied by linguists. Elder Brousse Flammand<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 November 2020 |title=About Brousse Flammand |url=https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/about-brousse-flammand/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623203030/https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/about-brousse-flammand/ |archive-date=2023-06-23 |access-date=2023-06-23 |work=Thinking in Michif}}</ref> writes "Language is central to nationhood" and that "A government cannot legislate this identity and nationhood; the government can only recognize what is already in existence."<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 November 2020 |title=The Genesis of the Michif Peoples |url=https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623203029/https://thinkinginmichif.family.blog/the-genesis-of-the-michif-peoples/ |archive-date=2023-06-23 |access-date=2023-06-23 |work=Thinking in Michif}}</ref> Michif was (and is) central to the independent culture and nationhood of the Métis people. The Métis community is working toward language revitalization to keep this connection to their independent culture and nationhood.

Métis cultural centres such as the Michif Cultural and Métis Resource Institute in [[St. Albert, Alberta]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=NAIT {{!}} Métis history to be preserved in one-of-a-kind virtual museum<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.nait.ca/44779_83141.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010215056/http://www.nait.ca/44779_83141.htm |archive-date=2017-10-10 |access-date=2012-07-19}}</ref> the Métis Culture and Heritage Resource Centre in [[Winnipeg]],<ref>[http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=6 MCHRC Profile<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731070439/http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=6|date=2012-07-31}}</ref> and the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research are attempting to revive the language through public outreach.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Overview of the Curriculum and Publishing Department |url=http://www.gdins.org/publishing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512061019/http://www.gdins.org/publishing |archive-date=2013-05-12 |access-date=2013-03-24 |work=Gabriel Dumont Institute}}</ref> Additionally, The [[Louis Riel]] Institute (LRI), which is the education department of the Manitoba Metis Federation in Winnipeg, is an adult learning center committed to the development of community based educational programs directed to adults and the whole family. The Institute has released DVD beginner lessons for both Michif and Michif French, which are also available online.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mazzoli |first=Maria |title=Challenges and opportunities for collaborative language research: The Michif case study. |journal=Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics}}</ref>

As of 2013, the ''[[Northern Journal]]'' reports that "Aboriginal language and culture is becoming increasingly visible" in Alberta, as Alberta's Northland School Division, "serving mostly First Nations and Métis students in the northern part of the province" has expanded its community partnerships and culture camps.<ref>{{cite news |last=Renée Francoeur |date=2013-03-12 |title=Northland improves use of Aboriginal languages |url=https://norj.ca/2013/03/northland-improves-use-of-aboriginal-languages/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011051530/https://norj.ca/2013/03/northland-improves-use-of-aboriginal-languages/ |archive-date=2017-10-11 |access-date=2013-03-24 |work=Northern Journal}}</ref>