An initiative on a First Nations reserve in Quebec City aims to restore a dying language, the Montreal Gazette has reported.

The Yawenda Project is reinstating Wendat as a second language among the 1,500 people of Wendake, Que.

The program was launched in August 2007, and entered a new stage in March, when groups of students began taking lessons from specially trained Wendat teachers.

Chief linguist of the Yawenda Project Megan Lukaniec has been charged with reconstructing the grammar and vocabulary of the Wendat language using documents such as field notes compiled by Jesuit priests.

Though she grew up in Connecticut, Lukaniec's mother was from the Huron-Wendat community.

She regained an interest in her native heritage while at university in New Hampshire, and is now studying for a masters degree in anthropology and linguistics at Université Laval in Quebec City.

"It's a real honour for me to be involved like this - but it's a lot of hard work, too," she told The Gazette. "People here are wild crazy about this. The teachers in particular are so dedicated. They always want more and more. I have to push myself to stay ahead of them."

Luc O'Bomsawin is among those taking language classes, along with his daughter Jennifer, 15.

"This is really important to me," Jennifer told The Gazette. "I'm proud of my native heritage, and language is such an important part of any culture. I want to learn to speak as much Wendat as I possibly can."

28 March 2010