Quote

[Jordan Lachler]

Howdy,

>" If you do not speak your language you are a white person with brown skin"

In my experience, this is not an uncommon sentiment.  There is an 
elderly, highly-respected chief among the Haida who I've heard say, 
on several occasions, in large gatherings, and with great seriousness:

"If you don't speak your language, how can you call yourself a Haida?"

Fortunately, he works (along with a dozen or so other elders) four to 
five hours a day on documenting and recording his language, so 
there's hope that other Haida people will in fact be able to learn to 
speak the language again.

I'm not personally aware of anyone who has taken up studying the 
language just from hearing him say those words. However, among our 
students that are already learning the language, those words really 
do resonate, and many of them take it in a positive sense -- not as a 
threat to their identity, but as an encouragement for their efforts 
to bring the language back, both for themselves and the Haida Nation 
as a whole.

Jordan