Is it possible to save a dying language?

Inuinnaqtun could be gone in just two generations.

The language (pronounced ee-NOO-ee-NAHK-toon) is traditionally spoken in three Inuit communities in the Western Arctic: Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk and Ulukhaktok.

Each community has become a battleground to revive the language, especially among young people.

Like other Indigenous languages, usage of Inuinnaqtun has seen a steep decline due to colonization and residential schools, where many children were forced to abandon their traditional languages and speak English.

It’s not clear how many Inuinnaqtun speakers are left.

Only 390 people in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories declared Inuinnaqtun their mother tongue in the 2011 census.

But four determined Inuit women are fighting to revive it — one voice at a time.