Use and Revitalization Efforts
The Halkomelem language is near extinction largely due to the extensive transportation of First Nations children to residential schools. In 2000, it was estimated that the number of fluent Halkomelem speakers was less than one dozen. Most are middle-aged or older, and few are monolingual, as there was a flood of English-speaking settlers in the region in the mid-nineteenth century. Language programs at the Stó:lō Nation, Seabird Island First Nation, and Cowichan First Nation have been developed to save the language. A program aimed at adults at Musqueam is a collaboration between the band and the University of British Columbia First Nations Language Program.
A Halkomelem iPhone app was released in 2011. As of 2010, 278 fluent speakers had been reported.
Read more about this topic: Halkomelem Language
Famous quotes containing the word efforts:
“Every new stroke of civilization has cost the lives of countless brave men, who have fallen defeated by the “dragon,” in their efforts to win the apples of the Hesperides, or the fleece of gold. Fallen in their efforts to overcome the old, half sordid savagery of the lower stages of creation, and win the next stage.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)