A/59/258 42. From a historical perspective, however, State policies have not always recognized or protected the languages spoken by indigenous peoples or linguistic minorities. On the contrary, the intention of official linguistic, educational and cultural policies has often been the assimilation of such groups into the national mainstream, thus leading to language and culture loss. In Canada, the bitter memory of “residential schools” did much to destroy the cultural identity of the First Nations for at least an entire generation. Similar situations exist in the Latin American countries. More recently, there has been an awareness that such processes violate the human rights of members of the affected language communities. 43. Nowadays, in some countries indigenous languages are recognized as national languages, at least in the regions in which they are widely used, and sometimes they have been accorded official status of some kind. In other cases, they may no longer be actually prohibited, but merely tolerated as a private medium of communication without being accorded any official status. Article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.” The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is currently preparing a convention on the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions which will reaffirm these rights. 44. The denial of the right to practice one’s own culture, religion or language may take many forms. Often, when the social and institutional environment is unfavourable to the preservation and development of indigenous cultures and languages, this right is in fact denied even when there is no formal prohibition or restriction involved. The use of the mother tongue in education and public communications is an important issue in the definition of the human rights of indigenous peoples. Bilingual and intercultural education has become educational policy for indigenous communities in many parts of the world. 45. The idea of multicultural or intercultural education raises certain difficulties because it involves not only local schools, but also regional and national school systems and the educational philosophy of any country where there are indigenous peoples. The notion of multicultural and intercultural education leads to a complete review of educational contents and methods in countries where it is applied. It basically means that the cultural diversity of the country is reflected in the curriculum and the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity become an objective compatible with democratic governance and the enjoyment of human rights by all. In some cases, this approach will require the revision of traditional ideas held by majority or dominant cultural groups about national culture and identity. Indigenous peoples’ organizations often need to remind the world that their own cultural specificities are also contributions to a universal culture and not mere relics of a disappearing past. The rights of indigenous peoples to culture and education (the whole gamut of cultural rights, in fact) include the right to the enjoyment and protection of their own cultures in a wider, multicultural world. 46. The preservation of indigenous cultures (including tangible and intangible elements, arts and artefacts, traditions, knowledge systems, intellectual property rights, ecosystem management, spirituality and so on) is an essential component of a 13