Dr. Candace Kaleimamoowahinekapu Galla (Kanaka Hawai’i and Filipino), an associate professor at UBC’s Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and Department of Language and Literacy Education, was recently named a UNESCO co-chair to advance rights education in Indigenous and non-dominant language communities. Photo: TedX
UNESCO has appointed UBC professor Dr. Candace Galla as Co-Chair for Rights Education among Indigenous and Non-Dominant Language Communities — a global role focused on advancing language rights, education, and community-led research.
An Associate Professor in UBC’s Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies (Faculty of Arts) and Department of Language and Literacy Education (Faculty of Education), Dr. Galla will collaborate with co-chairs Dr. Shannon Bischoff and Professor Mary Encabo Bischoff from Purdue University Fort Wayne to strengthen education and policy frameworks that support linguistic diversity and self-determination for Indigenous and non-dominant language communities worldwide.
Born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island, Dr. Galla grew up in the sugar plantation community of Pāhala, Kaʻū, where diverse cultures, languages, and lifeways were deeply interwoven. “Although ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi was not the language spoken in my home, my mother is a kumu hula [hula master] and hula became a central source of cultural grounding—carrying history, values, memory, and ancestral knowledge,” says Dr. Galla. “It was through hula that I first experienced the depth and power of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.”
When Dr. Galla learned that teaching in the Hawaiian language had been banned in 1896—and recognized how that suppression had shaped her own family’s story—it marked the beginning of her journey to reclaim ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, a language she continues to learn today. That journey, she says, has fueled her lifelong commitment to Indigenous language revitalization and to creating educational systems that empower communities to live, learn, and thrive in their own languages.
She now brings that commitment to her role as UNESCO Co-Chair, working to advance language rights and education in partnership with colleagues around the world. The UNESCO Chairs programme connects scholars and institutions around the world to promote collaboration and capacity-building in areas such as education, cultural heritage, sustainability, and human rights.
We spoke with Dr. Galla about what this appointment means, how it connects to her lifelong work in Indigenous language revitalization, and why protecting Indigenous and non-dominant languages matters more than ever.
Dr. Galla sharing the importance of language in hula as part of her workshop for traditional educators in Chiloé, Chile. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Candace Galla
What does the role of UNESCO Co-Chair involve?
As UNESCO Chair holders for Rights Education among Indigenous and Non-Dominant Language Communities, our work begins with the recognition that Indigenous and non-dominant language speakers and learners are leading powerful efforts to sustain, revitalize, and assert the rights of their languages. As academic scholars, we see our role as working in solidarity with these communities — leveraging our institutional platforms and partnerships to offer complementary education, training, and resources that help advance their goals and priorities.
Together with our global partners, we co-lead four major initiatives that embody this commitment:
- Indigenous Language Rights & Realities (ILR&R): Elevating Indigenous and non-dominant scholarship through open-access, community-rooted publishing.
- Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Indigenous Languages: From Policy and Planning to Implementation and Assessment — connecting learners from over 90 countries in dialogue on language policy, revitalization, and the right to learn and teach in one’s own language.
- English Language Partners Program: Providing culturally responsive English education that sustains learners’ linguistic and cultural identities, including those displaced by conflict or colonization.
- Capacity Building and Educational Training Network: Collaborating with Indigenous and ethnic higher-education institutions across Southeast Asia and Latin America to strengthen pedagogical innovation, curriculum design, and digital inclusion.
Ultimately, the UNESCO Co-Chair role is about responsibility and relationality — working in active partnership with stakeholders to advocate, educate, and drive meaningful, sustained change so that every language, culture, and community can thrive. We engage directly with communities to connect networks, elevate their work, and champion language rights across educational, research, and policy spaces — advancing justice, equity, and language vitality locally, nationally, and globally.
Dr. Galla and colleagues discussing the role of technology and media in language revitalization at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Photo: ʻŌiwi TV
What does ‘Rights Education’ mean — and why is it important for Indigenous and non-dominant language communities?
It is about recognizing and acting on the reality that language and culture are matters of justice, human dignity, and self-determination — fundamental rights that too many have been denied. It means ensuring that people whose languages have been marginalized, suppressed, or targeted by assimilation policies have the right to learn in and through their own languages; to maintain, revitalize, and fully live them; to access education, public services, and civic life in ways that honor their worldviews; and to live freely, without restriction, surveillance, or external control. Education must actively uphold language and culture rights, rather than perpetuate settler colonial ideologies that silence community knowledges. It means centering Indigenous and non-dominant language communities as leaders — defining what education and language use look like for them — and ensuring that educators, institutions, and policy-makers actively repair, support, and uphold those rights rather than contribute to ongoing harms.
Language and culture are matters of justice, human dignity, and self-determination — fundamental rights that too many have been denied.
–Dr. Candace Galla, Associate Professor, UBC Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies
Dr. Galla with a team of Hawaiian and Chamoru language educators in Hilo, Hawai’i. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Candace Galla
What does this appointment mean to you?
I am honored to serve alongside my colleagues, Shannon Bischoff and Mary Encabo Bischoff, in this shared role. For me, this appointment is both a recognition and a kuleana (responsibility) to strengthen our individual and collective commitment to Indigenous and non-dominant communities, their languages, and their rights. It’s about standing with language speakers and learners, amplifying their voices, and ensuring they have the tools, resources, and opportunities to reclaim, renew, revitalize, maintain, and live their languages.
More than anything, this work demands action within the spaces of education, research, and policy — action grounded in relational accountability, respect, reciprocity, and responsibility. While communities have long led this work, these broader systems must now embody these principles, ensuring that every Nation, community, and language is not only recognized for its inherent worth but also supported through equitable access to resources too often reserved for dominant or mainstream languages.
As a UNESCO Chairholder, I am committed to advancing transformational change that engages academia, policy, and society to uphold the rights of Indigenous and non-dominant language communities — ensuring these rights are both strengthened and enacted in practice.
Dr. Galla, Dr. Bischoff, and team recording modules for their MOOC — Indigenous Languages: From Policy and Planning to Implementation and Assessment in Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall at UBC. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Candace Galla
Why is this work important right now — locally, nationally, and globally?
Protecting and revitalizing Indigenous and non-dominant languages is urgent — not only for the communities whose languages are at risk, but for the health and resilience of societies worldwide. Languages carry knowledge, identity, and cultural memory that sustain human diversity, wisdom, and adaptability. Globally, the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) underscores the importance of living and strengthening these languages.
Dr. Galla teaching hula at the Women in Language gathering at the PULiiMA Indigenous Language and Technology Conference in Darwin, Australia. Photo: PULiiMA
Nationally, in Canada, Australia, the U.S., and beyond, Indigenous communities are reclaiming their languages and asserting their right to education in ways that honor their worldviews, confronting systems that have long marginalized them. Locally, language shapes everyday life — for families, students, and adults working to maintain and revitalize their languages. Supporting Indigenous and non-dominant languages is a matter of justice, democracy, and human rights, and by doing so, we strengthen societies everywhere, making them more inclusive, equitable, and resilient in a rapidly changing world.
Supporting Indigenous and non-dominant languages is a matter of justice, democracy, and human rights — and by doing so, we strengthen societies everywhere.
For students interested in learning from you: what courses or opportunities are available?
As a faculty member cross-appointed in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies (Faculty of Arts) and Language and Literacy Education (Faculty of Education) at UBC, my work is rooted in Indigenous language, culture, and education — especially where language revitalization, digital technology, community well-being, and policy intersect. I teach across programs including FNEL, MET and MEIE, and supervise undergraduate and graduate students — Indigenous, non-Indigenous, administrators, and pre-service and in-service teachers — who are passionate about Indigenous and non-dominant language education and rights-based initiatives.
Dr. Galla teaching an FNEL course on language revitalization and documentation at UBC. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Candace Galla
Through the UNESCO Chair, there are opportunities to take part in workshops, seminars, and global networks focused on language rights and education. I view teaching and mentorship as reciprocal learning — a shared space where students bring vital perspectives and experiences that deepen this collective work. If you’re interested, I’m always open to a conversation about ideas, research directions, or future collaborations.
E ola mau nā ʻōlelo ʻōiwi – Indigenous languages shall live!
This article was originally published by the Faculty of Arts.