BRENTWOOD BAY, B.C.—In celebration of the United Nations 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation (FPCF) and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC), in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, will host a major international conference on Indigenous language revitalization in British Columbia this summer.

The HELISET TŦE SKK´ÁL (pronounced ha-LEE-sut-te-skwayl)—‘Let the Languages Live’—2019 International Conference on Indigenous Languages will be held at the Victoria Conference Centre in Victoria, B.C. from June 24 to 26, 2019. Indigenous language experts and advocates from around the globe will gather to celebrate, honor and share expertise in Indigenous language reclamation, revitalization and maintenance.

The United Nations declared 2019 as the Year of Indigenous Languages as an important mechanism to raise international attention about the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize, promote and mobilize urgent and coordinated action at the national and international levels to protect them.

Indigenous languages around the world continue to disappear at an alarming rate. Approximately 40 percent of the estimated 6,700 languages spoken around the world are in danger of disappearing. The fact that most of these are Indigenous languages puts the cultures and knowledge systems to which they belong at risk.

More than 60 Indigenous languages exist in Canada and all are considered endangered. The greatest language diversity exists in British Columbia, which is home to more than 50 percent of all Indigenous languages in the country. Despite B.C.’s rich diversity of 34 unique First Nations languages and more than 90 dialects, currently, only three percent (or fewer than 4,200 people) of First Nations people in B.C. consider themselves fluent in their mother tongue.

The HELISET TŦE SKK´ÁL—‘Let the Languages Live’ conference will offer multiple workshop streams, including practical training in language immersion, archiving and documentation techniques; language policy and legislation; language revitalization program planning; models for language revitalization and education; language and technology; and storytelling. Participants will gain practical skills and knowledge to apply to their Indigenous language revitalization work.

Indigenous leaders and community members, and language experts, speakers, learners and advocates from B.C., across Canada and the world are invited to attend the conference. (see http://www.fpcflanguageconference.com)