|
|
Article: Feature: Virtual elder rekindles hope for revival of Canadian aboriginal language
- Article from:
- Xinhua News Agency
- Article date:
- July 22, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Xinhua News Agency. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
Feature: Virtual elder rekindles hope for revival of Canadian
aboriginal language
by Xinhua writers Zhao Qing, Yang Shilong
OTTAWA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- It has long been a heart-broken yet
helpless reality for Canada's aboriginal people that their native
languages, which are at the very core of their identity, are
disappearing.
The 2001 national survey by Statistics Canada suggests that just
24 percent of North American Indians, Inuit and Metis can still
converse in their ancestral tongue.
The situation becomes increasingly worse with the passing of the
elders in aboriginal communities. They actually are the only fluent
speakers left as a result of more than a century of abuse and ...