First Nations Languages Facing Extinction

Posted May 4, 2010 By tansi

There are only five Snuneymuxw people left who are fluent in the traditional Hul’q'umi’num’ language, elder Gary Manson estimates.

“And that’s probably pushing it.”

A report released last week on the demise of First Nations languages in B.C. says that three languages are designated as “sleeping” with no fluent speakers and 22 are nearly extinct. The Hul’q'umi’num’ language, traditionally spoken by First Nations from the Malahat to Nanoose Bay, has 278 fluent speakers and is classified as “severely endangered.”

No one will be fluent in most of B.C.’s 32 First Nations languages within six years if action isn’t taken to prevent the decline, says the report by the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council, a crown corporation created to help First Nations revitalize their languages and arts.

Read more.

Categories: Culture, Education, First Nation, Language
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Canadian government before an international human rights tribunal

Posted January 4, 2010 By móniyáw

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has approved the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group’s petition to hear the case against Canada. The native group contends that their human rights were violated by the privatization of their traditional territory – roughly 300,000 hectares of land on the east coast of Vancouver Island that was taken in the 1800s and converted to private property.

If the Canadian provincial and federal governments cannot address these problems due to a lack of will or too much red tape, then it is the tax payer and the aboriginal community who suffers. Too many people feel that dragging out land claims is an acceptable practice without realizing the costs involved and the potential damage to our economy. Read the full story here.

Categories: Land Claims
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