Conference Agenda

Much of the key literature on new speakerhood has focused primarily on European minority language communities (Hewitt 2017, McCarty 2018, O’Rourke & Nandi 2018, Hornsby 2019, Walsh 2019). In recent years, however, important insights have also been gained through work on the realities of new speakerhood in other global contexts (Tehee 2014, Belew 2018, Manoukian 2018).

In this paper, we will continue this trend by providing a critical analysis of the concept of new speakerhood as it applies in Indigenous language communities in North America. While certain aspects of new speakerhood will be shown to be broadly similar to other contexts, we will focus our attention on several ways in which the experience of new speakerhood is markedly different in many North American Indigenous communities.

Key among these differences, as noted by Chew et. al. (2024) is that "adult learners in language reclamation situations usually have multiple roles, all of which must be considered when planning and implementing language work". In other words, being a new speaker of an Indigenous language is about much more than simply learning and speaking the language. Rather, it implicates a complex web of responsibilities to one's family and community that extends far beyond the individual, resulting in both additional motivation as well as increased pressure to succeed.

Building on these insights, we will further discuss how these complexities necessitate a more robust system of training and support for new speakers, one which is customized to the specific realities of their cultural context, as well as the vitality status of the language. We will conclude by highlighting specific examples of such situationally-responsive training from various institutions across North America.