In this article, the author talks about the decline of fluent Alaskan Haida speakers. She features her mother's story as an example of why the Haida language is "on the brink." English language fluency as a tool for Indigenous survival is common to Native peoples, as is the desire to see languages flourish again. Alaskan Haidas recognized how the steady onslaught of immigrants moving into Alaska beginning in the early 1900s led to rapid cultural and economic change for all Natives. As a survival tool, English language use came to dominate daily life, and the Haida language moved toward a steady decline. Among other things, she discusses language workshops as means of language restoration. (Contains 7 notes.)