Language Use and Attitudes Among the Fisher River Cree in Manitoba

Abstract

Much social psychological research has focused on the role of attitudes and ethnolinguistic identification in language learning, maintenance, and revitalization although few studies have been conducted among members of Aboriginal com­munities in Canada. In order to explore how such social and psychological factors are involved in a community attempting language revitalization, measures of group identification, perceptions of vitality, and self-reported patterns of lan­guage use, attitudes, and contact were obtained from 78 Cree participants in Fisher River (Manitoba). Analyses revealed generational differences on several measures, suggesting that adults were more favorable toward Cree language maintenance and identity than children. In addition, multiple regression analyses revealed that identifications and the perceived legitimacy of vitality beliefs were significantly predictive of language use and attitudes. The overall findings are dis­ cussed in terms of an intergroup approach to language survival that gives primacy to identity variables in the low vitality context of the Fisher River Cree.