What are the lessons from French immersion education that can help with Indigenous language revitalization?

Many Indigenous languages have very few fluent speakers. First Nations communities are losing their fluent speakers at an alarming rate. According to Statistics Canada, as of 2021, the Okanagan Nation has 635 remaining nsyilxcen speakers, representing a -19.1% change from 2016 and a continued decline in speakers as the years progress. With the loss of fluent speakers comes the loss of our Indigeneity, high language comprehension, understanding of captikʷł, our protocols, ways of conducting ceremonies for the people, land, animals, and the use of medicinal plants. This is an urgent concern to fluent speakers, families, communities, and those who work to revitalize or sustain the existence of our languages. How can we preserve a language and continue to produce fluent speakers through a public education system? How can Indigenous languages, on the verge of extinction, be revitalized and spoken fluently among communities? We need to awaken the desire for fluency among Indigenous peoples. By combining traditional knowledge of Indigenous languages with the expertise of fluent speakers, Indigenous communities can revitalize their languages through Indigenizing community language programming and decolonizing the structures of educational organizations where programming is delivered. Shifting public school language programming from a fluency model to an immersion instructional model merged with contemporary educational practices, with a foundation of Indigenous epistemology, with an outcome of producing fluent speakers.