Death of First Nations languages no accident

[1]Redeye

Story_publish_date:

January 24, 2009

summary:

Only three of more than 60 indigenous languages is expected to survive this century. Andrea Bear Nicholas says this is a direct result of federal government polices on First Nations education.

Artist: Andrea Bear Nicholas [2]
Title: Fighting to preserve First Nations languages [3]
Genre: Speech [4]
Year: 2009 [5]
Length: 15:57 minutes (14.61 MB)
Format: Stereo 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)

The Mi'Kmaq language in New Brunswick has no fluent child speakers; most of those who can speak the language are over 60 years old. Unless dramatic steps are taken, Mi'Kmaq will be gone in 30 years.

Andrea Bear Nicholas is Chair of Native Studies at St.Thomas University in Fredericton. She blames the government for failing to put in place educational policies that would ensure aboriginal languages survived.

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Links:
[1] http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/redeye
[2] http://rabble.ca/audio/by/artist/andrea_bear_nicholas
[3] http://rabble.ca/audio/by/title/fighting_to_preserve_first_nations_languages
[4] http://rabble.ca/audio/by/genre/speech
[5] http://rabble.ca/audio/by/year/2009
[6] http://rabble.ca/user
[7] http://rabble.ca/user/register