{"id":107369,"date":"2026-07-29T11:24:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107369"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:24:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:24:55","slug":"startling-and-depressing-aiai-looks-to-bootstrap-struggling-indigenous-languages-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/startling-and-depressing-aiai-looks-to-bootstrap-struggling-indigenous-languages-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cStartling and Depressing\u201d: AIAI Looks to Bootstrap Struggling Indigenous Languages Sector"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Alex Murray Writer The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) Language Lead Kimberly Snake told the AIAI General Assembly last week the low number of high proficiency speakers of Indigenous languages is \u201cstartling\u201d and \u201cdepressing.\u201d \u201cIt really makes all of us think and take a step back,\u201d Snake told the assembled delegates during Day 3 of the assembly on Thursday (July 23) at the Mohawk Community Centre on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. \u201cWe want to normalize the language in our communities. Normalize it, make it every day,\u201d she added. Snake was presenting an update from AIAI\u2019s Language Committee, which has representation from seven of AIAI\u2019s eight member nations, with Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) the only one without a representative on the committee. Snake showed the assembly&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F29%2Fstartling-and-depressing-aiai-looks-to-bootstrap-struggling-indigenous-languages-sector%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alex Murray Writer The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) Language Lead Kimberly Snake told the AIAI General Assembly last week the low number of high proficiency speakers of Indigenous languages is \u201cstartling\u201d and \u201cdepressing.\u201d \u201cIt really makes all of us think and take a step back,\u201d Snake told the assembled delegates during Day 3 of the assembly on Thursday (July 23) at the Mohawk Community Centre on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. \u201cWe want to normalize the language in our communities. Normalize it, make it every day,\u201d she added. Snake was presenting an update from AIAI\u2019s Language Committee, which has representation from seven of AIAI\u2019s eight member nations, with Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) the only one without a representative on the committee. Snake showed the assembly... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F07%2F29%2Fstartling-and-depressing-aiai-looks-to-bootstrap-struggling-indigenous-languages-sector%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cStartling and Depressing\u201d: AIAI Looks to Bootstrap Struggling Indigenous Languages Sector - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/startling-and-depressing-aiai-looks-to-bootstrap-struggling-indigenous-languages-sector\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cStartling and Depressing\u201d: AIAI Looks to Bootstrap Struggling Indigenous Languages Sector - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alex Murray Writer The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) Language Lead Kimberly Snake told the AIAI General Assembly last week the low number of high proficiency speakers of Indigenous languages is \u201cstartling\u201d and \u201cdepressing.\u201d \u201cIt really makes all of us think and take a step back,\u201d Snake told the assembled delegates during Day 3 of the assembly on Thursday (July 23) at the Mohawk Community Centre on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. \u201cWe want to normalize the language in our communities. Normalize it, make it every day,\u201d she added. Snake was presenting an update from AIAI\u2019s Language Committee, which has representation from seven of AIAI\u2019s eight member nations, with Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) the only one without a representative on the committee. 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