State of the World's Indigenous Peoples (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

State of the World's Indigenous Peoples
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/sowip.html

Highlight Excerpt:

90 per cent of all languages will disappear within 100 years. It is usually
estimated that there are between 6,000
and 7,000 oral languages in the world today. Most of these languages are
spoken by very few people, while a
handful of them are spoken by an overwhelming majority of the world. About
97 per cent of the world’s population
speaks 4 per cent of its languages, while only 3 per cent speaks 96 per cent
of them. A great majority of these
languages are spoken by indigenous peoples, and many (if not most) of them
are in danger of becoming extinct.
Roughly 90 per cent of all existing languages may become extinct within the
next 100 years.

Dying languages, damaging communities. While some indigenous peoples are
successfully revitalising languages,
many others are fighting a losing battle, where languages are simply no
longer passed from one generation to the
next. Most governments are aware of this language crisis but funding is
often provided only for the recording of
languages, while limited funds are diverted to language revitalization
programmes. Language, furthermore, is not
only a communication tool, it is often linked to the land or region
traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples; it
is an essential component of one’s collective and individual identity and
therefore provides a sense of belonging
and community. When the language dies, that sense of community is damaged.
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