Language Loss

As we increasingly realize that our own self-destruction is inevitable in the destruction of the planet, the insular notion of Western modernity as the height of human progress is \ finally being questioned. However, the resultant paradox is that although we realize the resultant flaws of depending on one form of progress, the only alternatives that we could turn to are dying off of the face of the earth. Thus the global trend of language loss is an issue incredibly worthy of long overdue attention; it may in fact be our last meaningful alternative to rescue the plight of humanity’s survival. As a repository of knowledge, an expression of culture, and a symbolic embodiment of a way of life, the loss of a language speaks for itself. Although some Aboriginal languages are on the brink of extinction in Canada, regrettably, not many people are listening to the last cries of the voices that are quickly vanishing.
I will explore the reasons why this is the case. Firstly I will delve into the roots of language, as a vehicle by which the essence of each particular culture comes into coherence in the material world and how its culture’s level of conceit that sustains its insularity. The history of Western culture, as a product of European colonialism and industrial capitalism, clearly exemplifies that its essence and more importantly its arrogance, is fundamentally at odds with a harmonious relationship with the natural world, currently leading to its own detriment. With this colonial mentality in mind, a second aspect I will explore is the stark alternative to this one way of thinking that is exemplified the in the culture of the Squamish people of Vancouver. Thus thirdly, the settlement, industrialization, and current urbanization transforming Vancouver, is arguably augmenting the divide between both ways of being, perpetuating the self-destruction of all people who are at the mercy of the dominant culture’s conceit. Thus I will argue that in contrast to Vancouver’s