With an entirely Haida cast, and a script written in a largely forgotten language, the film reflects a resurgence of indigenous art and culture taking place across Canada. VideoRestoring the country’s 60 or so indigenous languages, many on the verge of extinction, is at the center of that reconciliation. “English cannot begin to describe the landscape of Haida Gwaii,” the Haida homeland, Mr. Davis said. That really is what language is.”Fewer than 20 fluent speakers of Haida are left in the world, according to local counts. For the Haida themselves, the destruction of their language is profoundly tied to a loss of identity.

Source: New York Times June 11, 2017 20:48 UTC