Preserving aboriginal languages with FirstVoices

For more than a century, Canadian governments tried to destroy the cultures of aboriginal peoples through assimilation. According to the First Peoples’ Heritage, Language and Culture Council, eight of the 40 First Nations languages that once existed in B.C. are now extinct. “The other 32 languages are critically endangered and time is running out,” states the council’s 2007–2008 annual report. One Web site that’s helping preserve the use of aboriginal languages is FirstVoices. Among the languages archived is Halq’eméylem, spoken by the Sto:lo people of the Fraser Valley. You can hear elders say 2,162 words and 526 phrases, such as wáyeles (“tomorrow”).