Indigenous language vitality is preventative healthcare

In 2025, a review led by the University of British Columbia analyzed 260 academic and community studies to understand the impacts of language retention on society: 78% of the studies showed a direct link between a high Indigenous language vitality and superior health outcomes, ranging from stronger social cohesion to robust physical, social, emotional, and spiritual healing among community members.

This review, just one among a growing body of evidence, shows that linguistic erosion does not happen in a vacuum—the loss of a language disrupts community wellness at all levels. Conversely, the revitalization and use of Indigenous languages can promote resilience at the community-level, and act as a preventative medicine strategy against illness.

Well-known, long overdue

While an understanding of this is slowly coming to light in medical and research fields, communities have long known the importance of language vitality to well-being and quality of life. In support of this, the First Peoples’ Cultural Council has noted that where people are connected to their language, they are also connected to the knowledge and teachings held in the language, making available healthy ways of being and connecting with others that are the most appropriate and relevant to their lives and ways of being.

More than just a culturally-relevant way of communication, Indigenous languages embed nuanced systems of relationality, traditional food practices, and holistic models of wellness. To this end, language can be thought of as one of the most tangible connections to cultural and group identity, as well as the main way of transferring culture from one generation to the next.

An expansive perspective on the importance of language is crucial, given that Indigenous people in Canada are ranked lower in almost every direct determinant of health than non-Indigenous Canadians, while according to UNESCO, more than three quarters of Indigenous languages in Canada are considered endangered, meaning they are, by and large, not being passed down to younger generations.

Following this line of thinking, language loss is a community health issue, and ought to be addressed with the same seriousness as more conventionally-viewed medical issues such as diabetes or HIV.

Indigenous language vitality as protective and economic health

In 2009, Indigenous scholar Dr. Onowa McIvor and colleagues referred to both language and culture as protective factors that act as buffers against risk factors for health problems experienced by Indigenous people.

Since then, others have explicitly described language instruction and vitality as a health promotion strategy, as well as protective factors that are cost-effective in comparison to the financial impacts of issues such as (but not limited to) obesity, diabetes, and substance abuse.

Let’s focus on diabetes, for example: An analysis in 2014 suggested that Indigenous communities in Alberta with stronger language use experience lower rates of Type 2 diabetes, while additional studies from both 2018 and 2019 described culture–-in which language is integral–as a major factor in the successful management of type 2 diabetes within Indigenous communities. 

Additional evidence suggests important links between individuals’ knowledge of their community’s Indigenous language and resiliency to HIV and hepatitis C, whose complications can be debilitating and life-threatening when appropriate interventions are inadequate or insufficiently available.

Further to this, analyses of over 150 First Nations communities in British Columbia and Canadian census data from 2011 show that communities with higher proportions of speakers of the local Indigenous language tend to experience lower rates of suicide, with the rate approaching zero in many places where the language is strong.

McIvor and colleagues suggest that as a major indicator of cultural continuity, learning and speaking one’s Indigenous language helps foster connection with others, relationships with the land, and spirituality, which are integral to one’s sense of well-being and place in the world. In so many ways, language and identity are inseparable. And as such, the inverse also applies: when a language is threatened, these intimate connections too are threatened and can result in profound harm on personal and community levels.

Language vitality: Economic implications for Canadian Healthcare Systems

Holistic and preventative approaches to health issues such as type 2 diabetes are important to consider from a financial perspective–among many others–given that the condition and associated complications cost the Canadian healthcare system approximately $50 million a day, while individual management expenses can reach over $10,000 per year depending on the region or province, significantly impacting lower-income families.

Similarly, the management of, and complications associated with, HIV in Canada have been known to incur costs of up to $17,000 per person annually, while a course of treatment for Hepatitis C can cost upwards of ~$60,000 per person.

In Canada, the vast majority of costs associated with treatment of conditions such as diabetes, HIV, and Hepatitis C are usually covered by the federal or regional healthcare systems, mostly sparing individuals the burden of out-of-pocket expenses. While many of these costs are unavoidable and required for effective treatment, preventative medicine and effective management above and beyond medications is essential to reducing additional potential costs to the individual and healthcare system alike.

While language revitalization program budgets can vary significantly depending on their scope and goals, many grassroots community program costs can vary between $50,000 and $150,000 a year. The costs associated with these programs are not trivial, but a significant proportion of the budget centres around boosting employment by ensuring speakers and mentors are paid a living wage for their services, and remain significantly lower than many of the above stated healthcare costs. 

Though supported Indigenous languages cannot eliminate chronic community healthcare issues altogether, they do have a big role to play in reducing associated costs that may otherwise be avoidable, while investing in the future of communities. 

Why the financial implications are important

Understanding how to holistically manage and prevent health issues and chronic illnesses is an important part of enabling people to live long and fulfilling lives. Accounting for these issues’ financial impacts along with the economic benefits of vibrant Indigenous languages is also essential, because it may open new avenues for language programming, while enabling existing budgets to be reallocated to other essential services in the community.

While framing Indigenous language vitality in financial terms can feel callous, it can be necessary when engaging with decision-makers whose primary metric of success is fiscal accountability. Healthcare budgets across Canada, especially in many rural and remote regions, face significant pressure and funding bodies often prioritize interventions that offer measurable returns on investment. 

As a result, highlighting the economic dividends that come from supporting Indigenous languages as a strategy for health promotion can make a compelling, hard-data case for policy makers who might otherwise view language programs purely as cultural or symbolic endeavours, and not as relevant to their particular domain.

The big picture: Funding language immersion as a public health strategy

Conversations surrounding the economic benefits of Indigenous language vitality are important to have, and can give governments a compelling economic justification to fund language immersion as a system-saving healthcare initiative. 

Indigenous language vitality is a holistic form of preventative medicine and an investment in communities, and can function as a cost-effective public health strategy that looks beyond simple physical health towards a more interconnected understanding of what it means to be healthy and live a full life.

References

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