The conference -- called "Raising Our Voices" -- is hosted by the Sweetgrass First Nation Language Council, in partnership with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

Dozens of workshops were held to discuss language issues in First Nations communities, focusing on how to better teach native children and youth their language and culture.

Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell, grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, said the number of people in attendance at the conference shows the dedication of the communities to preserving aboriginal language and culture.

"Now, more than ever, it's been an ongoing effort for First Nations in Canada to maintain their language because some are on the verge of extinction," Mitchell said. "The struggle to maintain aboriginal languages is a struggle for all First Nations."

Mitchell added that some First Nations languages face extinction in less than 10 years if there isn't something done to address the problem.

He said a large part of the struggle is reversing the culture that was lost during the decades of church-run and government-backed residential schools, where many aboriginal peoples were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse and stripped of their culture in favour of assimilation.