B.C. First Nations languages at risk (fwd link)

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June 12, 2008

B.C. First Nations languages at risk
By Carlito Pablo

There will be no first-language speakers of First Nations languages left in
British Columbia within a quarter of a century as a direct legacy of the Indian
residential-school system.

UBC associate professor Henry Davis made this projection a couple of hours
before Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered an apology to survivors and
families of former students of the boarding schools that were meant to
assimilate Native youth into the dominant white society.

In his statement in the House of Commons, Harper acknowledged that residential
schools in Canada have had a “lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal
culture, heritage, and language”.

Access full article below:
http://www.straight.com/article-149331/bc-first-nations-languages-risk