The University of Victoria has partnered with the University of Saskatchewan to bring the Masters Program in Indigenous Language Revitalization to the province for the first time.

Students will begin the program tomorrow morning and will be Saskatchewan’s first to partake in the program. Joan Greyeyes, director of First Nation and Metis Relations at the U of S, says the program is also about the revitalization of First Nations culture.

“We don’t ever want to be in a position, as we’ve seen happen in other Indigenous communities in Canada where we think — just a handful of people speaking their language. We don’t want to see that happen in Saskatchewan,” said Greyeyes.

“We want to ensure that our languages, our culture and our traditions remain strong and get even stronger,” added Greyeyes.

The students will take several courses over the next year before beginning on their thesis to complete the program.