The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of our final episode of the season with Elder Verna Kirkness. Elder Verna Kirkness is from the Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba. She is a Cree scholar and language advocate who has left an incredible legacy and body of work relating to Indigenous education policy and the importance of Indigenous language reclamation efforts both in Canada and around the globe.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 20 with Reverend Larry Beardy. Rev. Beardy is from Tataskweyak Cree Nation on Treaty 5 Territory. Rev. Beardy is a former Cree language syllabics teacher.   Rev.Beardy shares how he entered teacher training in his own community and learned about the structure of the syllabics writing through the local Elders who used to teach the language. For younger students, he shares that it is important to focus solely on the oral form and to be in an environment where the language thrives, for example with transmission of the language through story-telling. Rev. Beardy shares how the language and the culture must be taught together and how important it is to teach it on the land, not just in the classroom. He talks about the history of the Cree syllabics language system, sharing: “My understanding of creating the syllabic system, it was created by our people. Our own people. They took the symbols of the land or the signs, what I call monuments… it’s all in the symbols of our syllabics.” Rev. Beardy thinks often about how to re-introduce the language back to the youth so that the Elders and the young can speak together. He says the language is healing and can be found within, it is just a matter of learning how to bring it out.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 19 with Kimberly Halcrow. Kimberly lives in Gillam, Manitoba and is a mother, a Cree language teacher and Pow Wow Instructor among other important roles.   Kimberly has been teaching the Cree language in school for over 6 years. She loves the process and finding ways to get the kids feeling excited and engaged with the language. One method of teaching the language to her younger students is by translating English songs like The Itsy Bitsy Spider into Cree. Kimberly’s teaching strategy is creative, intuitive and supportive. Kimberly talks about how she uses the Total Physical Response method (TPR) and how it helps to communicate and understand student’s comprehension. As the only Cree speaking teacher at the school, Kimberly shares how important it is to go to conferences because they connect her to other language teachers. Her mindset goes beyond the classroom and into community efforts of making the Cree language more visible. She shares: “I always have new ideas to introduce Cree language, for them to have fun… I always try to speak it first because growing up we weren’t given a book in Cree or sheet to do. It was always spoken to us and it's a very good teaching.. you just have to listen and look around your environment and surroundings.” Kimberly is the kind of teacher students hope for! 

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 18 with Cree language teacher Kaitlin Arcand. Kaitlin is from Alexander First Nation. Kaitlin embodies the spirit of community. Kaitlin shares of her world travels and the way it has informed the connection to her learning and teaching journey. This is an in-depth conversation you won’t want to miss!

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 17, featuring Bonnie Hill. Bonnie is an Oneida language teacher of the Wolf Clan and is a member of the Oneida Nation of the Thames. In this episode, you will hear Bonnie speak of strategies that she has found successful for her students' learning and their language retention, as well as ways to foster language revitalization beyond her own community.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 16, with James Darin Corbiere. Mr. Corbiere is an Ojibwe artist and former police officer as well as teacher of Native Studies and the Ojibwe language. Darin shares insights into the strategies of both learning and teaching Anishinaabemowin, and the intricate connection that language has to culture. 

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 15 with newly retired teacher of the Southern Tutchone language Shȁnlaya Colleen Joe-Titus. Colleen is of the Crow Clan and a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation. In this episode, Colleen shares great insight into the hopes of different levels of community working in concert with each other to build language revitalization for all ages and community members. Colleen’s First Nation declared language revitalization a priority and she says moves like this create opportunities for individuals to learn beyond a classroom setting, which is key to successful language revitalization.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 14, featuring Mohawk language teacher, Kawennakon Bonnie Whitlow. Kawennakon speaks of her dreams to learn the Mohawk language her whole life. From elementary all the way through to university, there was never an option to learn any ancestral languages native to the land. She was always searching. Of her language journey, she shares her experiences learning as an adult, and how it informs her teaching to students today.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 13 with Felicia Huff. Felicia is a parent from The Chippewa of the Thames First Nation (COTTFN) and is an education trustee for her community. From a parent’s perspective, Felicia shares what has helped her children learn Ojibwe and what more could be done to support their learning.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 12 with Cree speaker and parent, Russel Iron. Russel is from Canoe Lake Cree First Nation. Russel has taught his children the language, and some of them are now teachers themselves. He shares the strategies that helped him teach his children the language and his path in education.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 11with Victoria Bomberry. Victoria is a Mohawk adult learner as well as parent to a child learning Mohawk and Cayuga on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. For Victoria and her family, supporting her son as he continues learning Mohawk and Cayuga is both a point of utmost importance and of pride.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 10 with Angel McNaughton. Angel is of the Six Nations Grand River Territory and is a proud mother of five children who have participated in the local immersion program at school. The Six Nations Confederacy houses 6 distinct languages which are: Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora. In her children’s school, the Mohawk and Cayuga languages are predominantly taught. In this episode, Angel shares about the dreams she has for her children learning their Indigenous language, among which is their opportunity to learn in an environment where they are supported and encouraged.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 9 with Dr. Tricia Logan. Tricia is an adult learner of the Michif language. Tricia is a Métis scholar and currently the head of Research and Engagement at the University of British Columbia’s Residential School History & Dialogue Centre in Vancouver.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 8 with Kerry Jean Murphy. Kerry is of Irish and Chippewa-Cree descent and hails from the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana, USA. Kerry is an enthusiastic and infectious adult learner who shares great insight into the importance of seeking out resources and maintaining positive self-talk to encourage one's own language and cultural reclamation. Kerry also shares a bit on the history of how Rocky Boy Reservation came to include a population of Plains Cree, descendants of Little Bear, son of Chief Big Bear of Saskatchewan.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 7 with Lydia Sunchild. Lydia is an adult language learner, daughter of a Cree language teacher as well as the mother of a child learning Cree. Lydia is from Thunderchild First Nation, Saskatchewan in Treaty 6 Territory and has a Master of Education Administration. 

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 6 with Aaliyah O’Watch. Aaliyah is an adult language learner of the Cree language and has plans to one day become a Cree language teacher. Currently studying at the University of Saskatchewan, Aaliyah has ties to both Nakoda and Cree First Nations. Aaliyah did not grow up speaking the Cree language, and says she only first heard a fluent speaker at the age of 19 while studying at the University of Regina.  

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 5 with John Kershaw. In this unique episode, we spoke to John who is of settler descent and an impassioned ally to Indigenous Peoples. Born and raised in the United States, John has lived in many places, but settled on Calgary when he began teaching in the early 2000’s. In 2019, John moved up to Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan and has been on a continued journey of learning the Cree language. Teaching in Sandy Bay and seeking out respectful ways of learning the Cree language, John sees this as a way of practicing Reconciliation; a role he cares for greatly.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 4 with Gabrielle Bird of the Atahkakoop Cree Nation in Treaty 6. Gabrielle currently resides in Regina with her family and is enrolled in a Social Work program at the University of Regina. Accessibility in language is one of the big barriers Gabrielle identifies. Gabrielle sees the need for more resources and programs in the community for fostering engagement and learning of the Cree language. Though the learning journey can be challenging and difficult, she says it is worth it.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 3 with Sharon Shadow. Sharon is a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation in the Yukon as well as being a member of the Wolf Clan. Sharow is an adult learner of the Southern Tutchone language and is the Yukon First Nations Languages Coordinator for the Government of Yukon. She has a Masters in Language Revitalization and teaches us all in this important interview about those who are silent speakers, as she considers herself one.

The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of episode 2 with Errol Kinistino. Errol is an adult Cree language learner, as well as an actor and singer from the Ochapowace Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. In this episode, Errol pays homage to the history of his community and the impact of the Residential School System on the transmission of the Cree and Michif languages in his family. Speaking to the damage caused from Indigenous languages and cultures being labelled pagan, Errol shares how really, the language speaks to the heart and is so beautiful and full of stories and lessons. At 19 years old while travelling to Split Lake and Indian Lake, Erroll first heard the languages being spoken fluently. He had no previous knowledge that this was even possible and it made him realize the language was still alive. As a university student in the 1970’s, Errol took an evening language course and describes it as eye opening. He recalls at first being severely discouraged and angry. Angry that it was so difficult to learn and that he had lost the opportunity as a child to learn it. He knew he had to move past the anger and the discouragement to go forward. Errol describes his experiences travelling Northern Manitoba and how hearing the language there helped to deepen his learning. Errol says: “Speak it as much as you can and if you hear it, you'll come alive. It’s in our blood, it’s in our DNA and we just have to revive it.” Old friends Gordon and Errol, discuss the significance of Indigenous languages and what small efforts in community spaces can do to immerse the people in their cultural legacy.