Resurgence in aboriginal languages hurt by cut in funds (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Resurgence in aboriginal languages hurt by cut in funds

By Marissa Nelson
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 17, 2007)
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1179376119029&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815

Luke Johns remembers the day he found out he was native.

He was sitting in his Grade 4 class during history when his teacher asked
him about his heritage.

All he could say was "I don't know."

He's been trying to fill in that blank ever since.

A new report from Statistics Canada shows the number of aboriginal people
who can talk in a traditional language continues to drop but a small
renaissance is helping push back the trend. The push back comes from young
people who are learning it in school as a second language.

Johns, a 30-year-old Hamilton man, began learning the Cayuga language as an
adult at the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre in the late 1990s. He'd like
to keep studying it, but he can't because the centre doesn't have any
classes.

There's no money for it.

He believes there are many like him in the city -- native people searching
for something that's missing.

Cathy Staats, the executive director of the Indian Centre, said if they held
language courses they'd be full. They were until three years ago when the
federal funds were cut. "It's hard to separate language from culture," she
said, explaining the importance of language to the community. "There's a
resurgence in interest but not enough money."

RELATED STORY: Many aboriginal languages are on the brink of extinction. A10

mnelson at thespec.com

905-526-2409