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A growing number of non-Indigenous students are taking up Indigenous languages through courses such as those offered at the University of Toronto, .

Ninaatig Staats Pangowish, an assistant professor at , says he welcomes non-Indigenous learners into his classes because people of all backgrounds have a role to play in revitalizing Anishinaabemowin and other endangered Indigenous languages.

“If I want my language to be a national [or] regional language in Canada, it can't just be Anishinaabeg who speak it,” Staats Pangowish tells reporter Duncan McCue on The Current.

Sara McDowell, a master’s student at U of T, has interviewed language teachers and elders for her .

"When we learn Indigenous languages, it's a way of saying, 'We recognize that you're here, we respect you, we think your languages are important and so are you. And we want to work together to change things,’” says McDowell, a self-described Canadian settler who has studied Anishinaabemowin for about 12 years.