Revitalizing indigenous languages through indigenous immersion education

This article provides a context for understanding indigenous immersion education and the issues surrounding the model as a critical strategy for revitalization of indigenous languages. Through articulating narratives and drawing on literatures internationally, an image of indigenous language education models emerges. Inspired by strong heritage language learner identities, program models are shaped around building family and community relationships, revitalizing cultural traditions and practices, and re-establishing indigenous language identity in its homeland. Indigenous language immersion models vary as they are developed in vastly different contexts. Three distinct contexts — Ojibwe, Māori, and Hawaiian — are described to illustrate the diversity and range of models. The article closes with some reflections from practice that will provide a context for building a research agenda to advance the revitalization of indigenous languages through immersion.