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Further it is recognized as one of eight official native tongues in the Northwest Territories.

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Inuktitut in the school system
Before contact, Inuit learned skills by example and participation. The Inuktitut language provided them with all the vocabulary required to describe traditional practices and natural features 1. Up to this point, it was solely an oral language. Colonialism brought the European schooling system over to Canada. The missionaries of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches were the first ones to deliver education to Inuit in schools. The teachers used the Inuktitut language for instruction and developed writing systems.

In 1928 the first residential school for Inuit opened, and English became the language of instruction. As the government's interests in the North increased, it started taking over the education of Inuit. After the end of World War II, English was seen as the language of communication in all domains. Officials expressed concerns about the difficulty for Inuit to find employment, if they were not able to communicate in English. Inuit were supposed to use English at school, work, and even at the playground. The Inuit themselves viewed Inuktitut as the way to express their feelings and be linked to their identity, while English was a tool for making money.

In the 1960's, the European attitude towards the Inuktitut language started to change. Inuktitut was seen as a language worth preserving, and it was argued that knowledge, particularly in the first years of school, is best transmitted in the mother tongue. This set off the beginning of bilingual schools. In 1969, most Inuit voted to eliminate federal schools and replace them with programs by the Direction Generale du Nouveau-Quebec (DGNQ). Content was now taught in Inuktitut, English and French.

Legislation
Inuktitut became one of the official language in the Northwest Territories in 1984. Its status is secured in the Northwest Territories Official Language Act. With the split of the Territory into NWT and Nunavut in 1999, both territories kept the Language Act. Nunatsiavut in Labrador made Inuktitut the official language of the government. In Nunavik, the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement recognizes Inuktitut in the education system.

Current status
Inuktitut used to be the language of the North. However, colonialism and changes in the school system left traces. The demand of the federal government in the 1950's for Inuit to use English in school and at work decreased the chances for people to speak their mother tongue, English was supposed to become "the language of the playground". Stopping children from using their ancestral language is a quick way to endanger it. Today, Inuktitut is evaluated as being vulnerable. The percentage of speakers varies depending on the region. In Canada, Inuktitut is most deeply routed in the "Inuit nunaat" (land of the Inuit). This is the area originally most populated by Inuit - Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Nunaqput. Due to the high Inuit population in these areas, Inuktitut is still most thriving there. Keeping the language becomes more difficult once the ethnic population decreases. Therefore Inuktitut is on a steeper decline in Southern places, where the Inuit population is lower. Language acts have been put into place to prevent the endangerment of Inuktitut.