Tlingit speakers travelling to 'historic' gathering in Alaska in effort to preserve language

Speakers of Tlingit are preparing for what they're calling ahistoric conference in Alaska.

It will be a rare occasion to have a room full of people speaking thelanguage.

Fewer than 200 people speak Tlingit around the world, withspeakers spread across different communities in the United Statesand Canada.

The meeting means a lot toDuane Gastant Aucoin, the chair of the language and culture oversight committee with the Teslin Tlingit Council in Teslin, Yukon.

"This is the first time coming together of all ourfluent speakers." he said.

"We don't have that many left and so this is more important than ever. It's more vital that we get together now and we start working together to save our precious Tlingit language."

There's no American Tlingit, there's no Canadian Tlingit. Those aren't our borders.- Duane GastantAucoin,Teslin Tlingit Council

Historic connections

The Native language summit, taking place in Juneau Nov. 13-15, is expected to draw Tlingit speakers from TeslinandCarcrossin the Yukon,as well asAtlin, B.C, and Alaska. It's hosted by the SealaskaHeritage Institute, a non-profit group that works to preserveSoutheast Alaskan Native culture. It's welcomingspeakers of Tlingit, Haidaand Tsimshian.

Aucoin says there has been a historic connection between Tlingit people who reside in the areas that are now part of Yukon, B.C. and Alaska.

He says the different groups can understand each other despite regional dialects.

"There might be some words that are different, or structure that's a little different, but afluent speaker from both places can understand what the other is saying," he said.

"There's no American Tlingit, there's no Canadian Tlingit. Those aren't our borders."

Aucoin says more than 30 people could be attending from Yukon.

The summit comes less than two months after the Alaska governor declared astate of emergencyfor Indigenous languages. Gov. Bill Walkersigned a bill to strengthen language education and encourage measures such as using local languages on place names and public signs.

Efforts to preserve and strengthen the Tlingit language in Yukon already includeclasses for pre-school children inCarcross. In Teslin, the Tlingit Council passed a Language and Culture Actin 2017, making Tlingit the official language for the government and the community.

Aucoin says work is happening now to develop an implementation planto bring that act to life.

With files from the Canadian Press