Virtual elder rekindles hope for revival of Canadian aboriginal language (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

Virtual elder rekindles hope for revival of Canadian aboriginal language

www.chinaview.cn  2009-07-23 08:04:37
by Xinhua writers Zhao Qing, Yang Shilong
China

    OTTAWA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- It has long been a heart-broken yet helpless
reality for Canada's aboriginal people that their native languages, which are
at the very core of their identity, are disappearing.

    The 2001 national survey by Statistics Canada suggests that just 24 percent
of North American Indians, Inuit and Metis can still converse in their
ancestral tongue.

    The situation becomes increasingly worse with the passing of the elders in
aboriginal communities. They actually are the only fluent speakers left as a
result of more than a century of abuse and mistreatment under the infamous
Canadian Indian residential school system.

    The church-run, government funded system, founded in the 19th century, was
intended to force the assimilation of the country's indigenous people into the
European-Canadian society.

    Fortunately, now the cutting-edge high techs are enabling the aboriginals to
make digital recordings of their elders and upload them on-line for training the
young generation, reigniting hopes to preserve the past and reshape the future.'

Access full article below:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/23/content_11756381.htm