Students at a Nova Scotia high school are drawing international attention to a disappearing Indigenous language using one of the Beatles’ most recognizable songs.

Music students at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, N.S. recorded a cover of “Blackbird” sung entirely in Mi’kmaq—a language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people.

The rendition, which was sung by Grade 10 student Emma Stevens, has received praise online by both Beatles fans and language advocates, and has garnered more than 100,000 views since being uploaded last week.

“It’s a very, very powerful song, so doing it in Mi’kmaq just makes it more powerful,” Stevens told CTV Atlantic. “Our language is dying, so we need more people to keep it alive and speak it, because it’s going away.”

The song, which took two hours to translate, was recorded in celebration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages, a United Nations initiative aimed at raising awareness of endangered Indigenous languages.

Mi’kmaq is the native language of the Eskasoni First Nation, and holds an important place within the community.

Katani Julian, who helped translate the song, hopes the song will inspire younger generations to learn words or phrases from the language.

“When the song comes out, and even the young people—the youth and the children in the community—when they hear it, they play it over and over again and pretty soon they start being able to sing it, even if they’re not able to converse in the Mi’kmaq language,” said Julian.

The song has struck a chord with many in the community, especially the elders who have worked to keep Mi’kmaq alive.

“When I saw the final project, the video, I was absolutely stunned,” said Julian.

“It’s just beautiful. I showed it to my dad and I had tears and I didn’t want him to notice me. When I looked I said ‘dad’ and he said ‘yeah’ and he was wiping away a tear there too.”

Stevens hopes the cover will eventually make its way into the hands of Paul McCartney.