In this section you will record important information about Aboriginal language communities from documents attached to maps in the Atlas of Canada.

1. Do the following steps:

a. Go to the Atlas of Canada Web site located at atlas.gc.ca and click on the English button.
b. Find the Explore Our Maps menu on the left hand side of the page.
c. Move your cursor over People & Society, then click on Aboriginal Languages in the pop-out menu.
d. On the new page that appears, click on the link to the Read more about Aboriginal Languages page.
e. Read the text and answer the following questions in the space provided.

2. How is language connected to culture?

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3. What is the impact of language extinction for Aboriginal communities in Canada?

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4. What proportion of the Aboriginal population in 1996 spoke an Aboriginal language? Identify some of the factors that contributed to the decline in the use of Aboriginal languages in Canada.

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5. At the top of this page click the link to the Aboriginal Languages by Community, 1996 Map. Look at the map and then click the Read more about this map link. How does geography influence the size, diversity, and likelihood of survival for Aboriginal languages? (Hint: Be specific and use examples to answer this question.)

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You will now use a map to analyse information about language communities.

1. Do the following steps:

a. Go back to the Aboriginal Languages by Community, 1996 Map.
b. Click on Zoom to Region tool above the map.
c. Scroll down and choose Yukon Territory.

2. What information does the map show?

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3. Name the major language families found in the Yukon Territory:

a. _________________________________________

b. _________________________________________

4. For each of the language families, count the number of people who speak each mother tongue. (To do this, click on Get Info from Map, and then on the symbols on the map. Record the mother tongue population, from the small pop-out window that appears, for each of the communities in the Yukon Territory.)

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b. _________________________________________

5. Which is the most common Aboriginal language family spoken?

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Compare the number of Aboriginal language family communities in the Yukon Territory to those in the province of Ontario. Account for the differences using information gathered from the documents at the beginning of this activity. Use the Zoom to Region tool above the map and select Ontario.

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