In part with the 2019 UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages, the First Nations Education Foundation has announced that a Language Revitalization Pole will be created at the University of Victoria in Port Alberni, Vancouver Island. The pole will be carved by artist Tim Paul, who is part of the Hesquiaht First Nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations.
“The totem pole is going to raise awareness of the threats facing the Indigenous languages, which all of us face across this country, for the most part,” Les Doiron, president of the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ First Nation, told the Vancouver Sun.
“It will also draw attention to the urgent need to advance reconciliation and healing, by supporting the Indigenous peoples and their communities in their efforts to preserve and promote our languages and cultures through innovative solutions.”
