The unique languages of B.C.'s First Nations communities make up one of the three most important linguistic regions in the world and are in danger of becoming instinct, according to a UBC linguistics professor.
First Nations communities in B.C. speak 26 different languages but they only have about 25 years left to survive, according to UBC Linguistics Professor Henry Davis.
"It's actually quite hard to eradicate a language ... (but it happens by adopting) the residential school policy, which Canada adopted," said Davis, who speaks the Lillooet First Nations language.
Margaret Commodore says she remembers feeling lucky that she didn't know her own First Nations language.
"I was one of the children that never learned to speak my language so I was never punished for speaking another language and that was one of the good things," she said.
But Davis says the loss of a cultural language can have devastating consequences.
"The effects of language loss are actually huge, and they are, they're a deculturation which leads to suicide and drug abuse and so on," he said.
Reviving nearly-lost languages is extremely difficult, Davis said, and nearly impossible to do without forced immersion to bring them back.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Dag Sharman
