Project 57 Week 4: Diversity of languages and language families in BC

In the previous posts we learned about how diverse the First Nations communities in BC are. In this post we’re going to learn about the languages in this province. 

You may have heard that many Indigenous languages are at risk, and communities are working to revitalize their language. The First Peoples’ Cultural Council (2018) writes that BC is unique regarding Indigenous languages with 7 (out of 12) language families being spoken. Within these families, there are 34 languages and 93 dialects spoken, and three languages that are considered sleeping. This means that half of the languages spoken by Indigenous nations and communities in this country are in BC. In BC, the languages nêhiyawêwin (Cree) and Michif (language of the Métis) are also spoken, with nêhiyawêwin being the most commonly spoken Indigenous language in BC. 

To learn more, check out these resources: 

• First Peoples’ Cultural Council report, Status of BC First Nations Languages
• First Peoples’ Cultural Council, Interactive map
• British Columbia, Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Languages

The Decolonizing the Library Working Group invites everyone to learn alongside us with Project 57. This project is a response to the TRC Call to Action 57, which calls on "federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples." 

For more information visit Indigenous Initiatives.