<div dir="ltr"><b><font size="4">Mi'kmaq is making a comeback in a Nova Scotia community<br></font></b><br>By Jaime Myslik, special to, CBC News Posted: Mar 25, 2014 10:00 AM ET <div>Last Updated: Mar 25, 2014 10:00 AM ET</div>
<div><br></div>A Nova Scotia-based indigenous group is already living the benefits of a Mi'kmaq revitalization project funded by the federal government.<br><br>Delina Petit Pas, chairperson of the Mi'kmaq Burial Grounds Research and Restoration Association, says she is already hearing more Mi'kmaq spoken around her.<br>
<br>Read more from the series and explore the data here.<br><br>"I go shopping and they’ll say 'hello' to me and 'how are you' in Mi'kmaq," she said. "You notice and you know that's going to happen in our community for a while."<br>
<br>In October, the Department of Canadian Heritage gave the Mi'kmaq Burial Grounds Research and Restoration Association the $66,060 grant under the Aboriginal Languages Initiative. This money went toward the Mi'kmaq language project in Nova Scotia's Lunenburg County.<div>
<br></div><div><p style="margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px">While it isn't a lot of money, it makes a big difference for the association. The program financed a retreat for 20 people in the fall as well as regular ongoing language classes within the community, Petit Pas said.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px">"We have, on average, about 40 people that attend the lessons, and so you can imagine what that does," Petit Pas said. "When they meet they're conversing so we're finding that it's quite a success."</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px">According to the 2011 Statistics Canada census, Mi'kmaq is one of the top 10 spoken mother tongue Aboriginal languages in Canada, with 8,030 speakers.</p>
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<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mi-kmaq-is-making-a-comeback-in-a-nova-scotia-community-1.2557138">http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mi-kmaq-is-making-a-comeback-in-a-nova-scotia-community-1.2557138</a></div><br><p>
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