This set of RCAP hearing minutes contains numerous testimonials, including a piece by Betty Harnum that speaks to the history of language and legislation in the NWT. In her testimony, she advocates for increased interpretive services, more accessible language funding, more elders in schools, Aboriginal language immersion classes, and language teacher certification. She also speaks to the difficulty that interpreter/translators face with regard to negotiations and unfamiliar terminology (e.g., “extinguishment”) and how more training is needed. Thus far, Harnum comments, it has been very difficult to measure or quantify how much of an impact the Official Languages Act and its connected funding has had.

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Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Hearing Record: Tuesday December 8, 1992. Northern United Place Hall, Yellowknife. Recorded by Stenotran, Ottawa (1992).