Nunavut language summit begins (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Nunavut language summit begins

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | 5:19 PM CT
CBC News

Inuit languages — and how to preserve them in a culture increasingly
dominated by English — are the focus of a Nunavut summit this week
drawing experts from several circumpolar nations.

About 200 delegates from Canada, Greenland and the United States are
in Iqaluit for the Nunavut Language Summit, which began Tuesday and
runs through Friday.

The Nunavut government organized the conference because it wants to
implement new laws aimed at making Inuit languages, including
Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, more prominent in the daily lives of
Nunavummiut.

While about 90 per cent of Inuit in Canada still speak Inuktitut, its
use has been slowly declining, according to Statistics Canada. Inuit
make up 84 per cent of Nunavut's population of about 30,000.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/02/09/nunavut-lang-summit.html#ixzz0f79V6rvZ