The Globe and Mail spoke with Jay Powell, a former UBC anthropology professor, about the Chinook language for a story about indigenous language revival projects.
At one time, more than 100,000 people spoke Chinook but Powell could be the only fluent speaker left.
“A lot of loggers knew it well and spoke it, especially after they had a few drinks. Up until 1975, it was easy to find people on the coast who spoke it. As far as I know, I may be the last person who is quite fluent. I might be a museum piece,” Powell said.
