Indigenous languages are at the heart of reconciliation, but the Southern Chiefs’ Organization says they’re still being left behind in Manitoba classrooms.

“Our language is our culture, it is our identity, it connects us to who we are,” said Margaret Swan, the director of child welfare at the SCO.

The SCO is calling on both the provincial and federal governments to give First Nations languages the same attention and funding as French education.

“It’s not something new to us,” Swan told CityNews. “We have always (fought) in different ways to have equity and fairness when it comes to First Nations languages and First Nations culture.”

The SCO says only a small number of Manitoba schools offer programs in languages like Anishinaabemowin and Dakota, and it wants those languages to be treat

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