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Aboriginal languages in Canada are at risk. Aboriginal communities that control their own schools often perceive schooling as a means of halting the erosion of language and restoring the viability of their culture. This is the story of such a process. The James Bay Cree live in nine communities. mostly along the east coast of James Bay. In December 1988, the Cree School Board commissioners decided to introduce a program of Cree as the language of instruction in elementary schools. We describe the development of the project (now in the initial stage of implementation) and analyze its strengths and weaknesses. Although this program's ultimate impact on the preservation of Cree language (and culture) cannot yet be known, it is clear that the community plays an important role in creating and sustaining the motivation for the change.
Les langues autochtones au Canada sont en peril. Les communautes autochtones qui gerent leurs propres ecoles voient dans celles - ci un moyen de mettre fin a l'erosion de leur langue et de restaurer la viabilite de leur culture. L'article illustre ce processus. Les Cris de la Baie James vivent dans neuf villages situes pour la plupart le long de la cote est de la Baie James. En decembre 1988, les commissaires de la Commission scolaire crie ont decide de mettre en oeuvre un programme axe sur le cri comme langue d'enseignement dans les ecoles primaires. Les auteures decrivent le processus d'elaboration de ce projet (actuellement a la phase initiale de son implantation) et analysent ses forces et ses faiblesses. Bien que l'impact final de ce programme du point de vue de la preservation de la langue et de la culture cries ne soit pas encore connu, il est clair que la communaute joue un role important dans la volonte de creer et de maintenir ce changement.
INTRODUCTION
Aboriginal languages in Canada are at risk. A language survey conducted in 1989 - 1990 showed that the numbers of Aboriginal language speakers in Canada are diminishing (Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, 1990). The viability of Aboriginal languages in Canada can be judged along a continuum (Bauman, 1980; Pelletier, 1990) with six stages: flourishing, enduring, declining, becoming obsolete, dead, and extinct. It is likely that no Aboriginal language in Canada is...