VICTORIA, B.C.- The B.C. Government is investing $50 million in saving the languages of the province’s First Nations.
It’ll be working with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council on the project. The government says it’s part of reversing “the disruption to Indigenous languages from Canada’s history of colonization and residential schools.”
The government says language is critical for Indigenous peoples to their culture. Fewer than 6,000 people speak one of B.C’s 34 Indigenous languages.
The funding will be used to expand community immersion programs that support the development of fluent speakers of the languages. The government says the language revitalization plans will be developed with Indigenous communities and tailored to their individual needs.