The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) did a study a few years ago, and grouped each of our languages into one of these categories:

Flourishing;
Enduring;
Declining;
Endangered; and,
Extinct.

Of the fifty or so Aboriginal languages still alive in Canada, only three are flourishing – Ojibway, Cree, and Inuktitut. In 1992, the AFN summarized the importance of Aboriginal languages as follows:

The Aboriginal Languages were given by the Creator as an integral part of life. Embodied in Aboriginal languages is our unique relationship to the Creator, our attitudes, beliefs, values, and the fundamental notion of what is truth. Aboriginal language is an asset to one’s own education, formal and informal. Aboriginal language contributes to greater pride in the history and culture of the community; greater involvement and interest of parents in the education of their children, and greater respect for Elders. Language is the principal means by which culture is accumulated, shared and transmitted from generation to generation. The key to identity and retention of culture is one’s ancestral language (Ignace).

Only two languages have the status of being official in Canada. They are NOT the languages of the first peoples of this land. A policy or structure that does not recognize and affirm our language serves only to erode our culture, our worldview of interconnectedness.

Ruth Norton and Mark Fettes have this to say about revitalization of Aboriginal languages:

Conversely, a linguistic renaissance must be an integral part of the evolution towards local self-government and the restoration of spiritual and physical health to Aboriginal communities (Castellano, Dabis and Lahache)