Aboriginal languages said facing extinction (fwd)

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Aboriginal languages said facing extinction

Canadian Press
Updated: Sun. Oct. 24 2004 11:25 PM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1098654385233_19/?hub=Canada

SAINT-SAUVEUR, Que. — Many of Canada's aboriginal languages could face
extinction in as little as a generation unless government gets
involved, said some participants Sunday at a conference held to discuss
the problem.

"We have to preserve and above all revitalize (these languages)," said
Thanissa Laine, a co-ordinator for the second Conference on Aboriginal
Languages. "There is no law protecting endangered languages in Canada
but there are (laws) for animals that are becoming extinct."

Of Canada's 50 aboriginal languages, 47 face extinction within one or
two generations. And though Cree, Ojibwa and Inuktitut have enough
speakers to survive another four or five generations they too will die
out unless action is taken, said Lise Bastien, director of the board of
education for Quebec's First Nations.

About 150 participants from Canada and the United States gathered for
the three-day conference to discuss endangered languages and how to
preserve them.

Bastien said some communities have had short-term success by teaching
all or a portion of elementary education in an aboriginal language or
having elders participate in social or community activities with
children so the language is transmitted naturally.

However, long-term progress won't be made until government gets
involved, she said.

"Language is very important for the cultural blossoming of aboriginal
communities," she said. "It would take a financial commitment and an
official recognition of the languages (by the government).

"They should be supported by permanent policies."

Laine said it is a struggle maintaining such languages in the face of a
"dominant culture of globalization and assimilation," although she
added she remains optimistic.

"People are more sensitized now than they were one or even two
generations ago," she said. "That's my positive side but it's an
enormous job."

Other participants said Canada's culture of multiculturalism and
bilingualism will make it easier for its aboriginal languages to
survive in the long-term than in other countries.

"We appreciate (here) the importance of language," said Arpi Hamalian, a
Canadian on a UNESCO committee and an education professor at Concordia
University.

"Canada is at the forefront of trying to bring about a convention on
cultural diversity at the United Nations level. Cultural diversity at
its heart also protects linguistic diversity.

The first Conference on Aboriginal Languages was held in 1998 Quebec
City.
Saint-Sauveur is about 50 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

The conference ends Tuesday.

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