Linguistic Human Rights and Language Revitalization in the USA and Canada Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Andrea Bear Nicholas, and Jon Reyhner In Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove and Phillipson, Robert (eds) (2017). Language Rights. London/New York. Series Critical Concepts in Language Studies. 4 volumes. In Volume 3, Language Endangerment and Revitalisation; Language Rights Charters and Declarations, 73-89. ISBN: 978-0-415-74085-2. Reprinted from: Coronel-Molina, Serafin M. And McCarty, Teresa L. (2016). The Handbook of Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas. New York: Routledge, 181-200. Linguistic human rights (LHRs), especially in education, are one of the most necessary (but not sufficient) prerequisites for the maintenance of the world’s Indigenous/tribal, minority and minoritized (ITM) languages and communities. An unconditional right to mother tongue-based bi/multilingual education in non-fee state schools is the most important LHR if ITM languages and communities are not to remain seriously endangered. This chapter describes and analyses educational linguistic rights in international law, in the USA and in Canada. All Indigenous/tribal/First Nations languages in North America, with the possible exception of Inuit in Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland, are seriously endangered and in need of revitalization. For them, education using the ITM children’s ancestors’ mother tongues in Indigenous mother-tongue-based multilingual and revitalization immersion programs should be a linguistic human right. This right does not exist today, either in law or in practice – linguistic and cultural genocide continues. Attempts to counteract this genocide are presented. Linguistic Human Rights (LHRs), especially in education, are one of the most necessary (but not sufficient) prerequisites for the maintenance of the world’s Indigenous/tribal, minority and minoritized (hereafter ITM) languages and communities. An unconditional right to mother tongue-based bi/multilingual education in non-fee (public) state schools is the most important LHR if ITM languages and communities are not to remain seriously endangered. All Indigenous/tribal/First Nations languages in North America, with the possible exception of Inuit in Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland, are endangered and in need of revitalization. For them, education using the ITM children’s ancestors’ mother tongues in Indigenous revitalization immersion programs should be a linguistic human right (see Skutnabb-Kangas & McCarty, 2008, for definitions). Indigenous languages in North America are severely endangered. Andrea Bear Nicholas, testifying before the Senate Aboriginal Peoples Committee in Fredericton, New Brunswick on December 2, 2010, gave one example of this endangerment and its social an educational effects (summarized here): At present barely 10 to 20% of Maliseets speak their mother tongue fluently; they are predominantly over 60 years. Most First Nations languages have no child speakers. Existing core programs of around 30 minutes a day of language instruction are completely useless for maintaining or creating fluency. The active destruction of First Nations languages in schools, even on reserve, continues in a variety of other subtle ways, through the imposition of provincial curriculum in English or French on First Nations schools, through the ready funding of English language pre-school programs for Indigenous children, and through the university training for Indigenous people to become teachers