This report describes the status of Aboriginal languages in the NWT, before addressing the complex question of literacy as functional or “school” based. Its thesis is that in a changing world, multiple types of literacy are needed to navigate life in the Northwest Territories, taught both through formal education and through cultural literacy modeling by elders and parents. The authors encourage NWT communities to create and apply their own models to teach literacy, develop culturally appropriate materials, and seek the council’s support in areas where it can be most useful. To achieve this, they consulted with language coordinators and positioned themselves as a place for researching and sharing literacy models and practices.

From Introduction: 

The NWT Literacy Council has supported literacy development in all official languages since 1989. Most of our work focuses on English literacy, but we have also supported Aboriginal literacy directly. We know that people in the Aboriginal language communities believe it is important and urgent to maintain, revitalize and promote Aboriginal languages and literacy, and so we feel it is time for us as a literacy organization to try to improve our support in this area.

Access this Resource: 

This report is available on the NWT Literacy Council website. 

Northwest Territories Literacy Council. Multiple Literacies: Improving our support for Aboriginal literacy in the NWT. Yellowknife, March 2002.