Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Victoria Bomberry

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization -Angel McNaughton

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Dr. Tricia Logan

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Kerry Jean Murphy

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Lydia Sunchild

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. 

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Aaliyah O’Watch

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.  

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - John Kershaw

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Gabrielle Bird

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Sharon Shadow

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.

Voices from the Land: Indigenous Peoples Talk Language Revitalization - Errol Kinistino

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.