I would like to thank the Assembly of First Nations "Aboriginal Language Initiative" sector for their financial support; the Assembly of Nova Scotia Chiefs, the Directors of Education in the region, Mi'kmawey Kina'matnewey and the Eskasoni School Board for their guidance and direction.

 The scope of this study includes all the First Nation communities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.  Without their input and agreement to complete the surveys, this study would not have been possible.

 I extend my sincere appreciation and thanks to the surveyors from each community who did a wonderful job and to the students who helped to complete the tallies.

 A special thanks to April Julian from the Centre of Excellence who was on top of this project from the start and responsible for the final analysis of the data.  Without her, this project would have taken another two months to complete and graphs she developed for each band would not be as comprehensive.  Also from the Centre, many thanks to Helen Sylliboy who gathered information on-line on courses available in Universities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

 Many thanks to Mi'kmawey Kina'matnewey staff Marjorie Gould, Director, John Jerome Paul, Programs, and Janice Paul, Executive Assistant who provided us with statistical information on individual bands and for all their guidance.

Eskasoni, Nova Scotia    Mary Rose Julian
May, 1999