Métis institute gets money to revive endangered language (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Métis institute gets money to revive endangered language

Last Updated: Thursday, April 12, 2007 | 2:52 PM CT
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/04/12/michif.html

Métis educators in Saskatchewan hope an infusion of federal cash announced
Thursday will help revive an endangered aboriginal language — Michif.

On Thursday, Ottawa gave $125,000 to the Gabriel Dumont Institute, a
non-profit organization that provides training for Métis students in the
province. The funds are meant to help promote the spread of the Michif
language from generation to generation.

Michif, a mixture of French and Cree with some borrowings from Dene and
English, was once widely spoken among the Métis people of Western Canada.

These days, like many aboriginal languages, it is in danger of extinction.
It is for the most part spoken only in north-west Saskatchewan and a few
communities in Alberta and Manitoba. It's believed fewer than 1,000 people
speak it.

The new funding will be used to try to ensure more children pick up the
language, said Geordy McCaffrey, the executive director of the Gabriel
Dumont Institute.

"Basically we're going to create a number of children's resources,
children's books, and we also hold a gathering each year where we bring
Michif speakers from across Saskatchewan," McCaffrey said.

"They develop an overall plan to make sure Michif is revitalized and stays
relevant."