Language improves health and wellbeing in Indigenous communities: A scoping review

Language and Health
2025

Indigenous languages in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States are endangered due to colonial policies which promote English language dominance. While Indigenous communities know the importance of language for their wellbeing, this topic has only recently received attention in scholarship and public policy. This scoping review synthesizes and assesses existing literature on the links between the vitality of Indigenous languages and health or wellness in four English-speaking settler colonial countries.

Authors

Co-Authors

  • Louise Harding, Ursula Ellis, Karleen Delaurier-Lyle, Julia Schillo, Mark Turin,

Publication Type

Journal Name

Language and Health

Volume Number

3

Issue Number

1

ISSN/ISBN

2949-9038