Indigenous languages at risk in Canada?

BRENTWOOD BAY, British Columbia, May 1 (UPI) -- Languages spoken by the Indians of Canada's Pacific Coast are in danger of dying out, with fluent speakers a small and aging group, researchers report.

The report by The First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council classified eight of the 32 languages of British Columbia as endangered and 22 as nearly extinct. While 5.1 percent of the indigenous population are considered fluent speakers, the majority of them are older than 65.

"British Columbia is home to 60 percent of the indigenous languages in Canada as well as distinct language families not found anywhere else in the world," said Dr. Lorna Williams, chairwoman of the board at the First Peoples' Council and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning at the University of Victoria. "The cultural and linguistic diversity of B.C. is a priceless treasure for all of humanity and this report shows that more must be done to protect it."

The report found many of the 8.5 percent considered semi-fluent are under 25, as are a majority of those learning the indigenous languages.