Episode 7: nêhiyawêwin: Honouring the Language and Those Who Carry It with Roberta Alook

In this episode of miyo-wîcêhtowin: Stories That Teach and Heal, Tammy Rae Lamouche and Dr. Zahra Kasamali sit down with Roberta Alook, a Cree language teacher at amiskwaciy academy. Roberta shares her journey with nêhiyawêwin and how she incorporates American Sign Language (ASL) into her teaching, creating meaningful opportunities for students to connect with language. Together, they discuss the importance of language revitalization, the role of educators in supporting the next generation, and how language helps strengthen identity, relationships, and a sense of belonging. 

Transcript

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And welcome everyone to another episode of the ATEP podcast, Mea with T2N, Stories That Teach and Heal. My name is Zara Kasamalee. And I'm Tabi Ray Lamoush. We're so grateful you're joining us today as we continue to share stories, teachings, and conversations connected to Indigenous education, language, and community. Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the land where the podcast is being created. The University of Alberta respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 Territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Metis people. Specifically, we acknowledge the diverse indigenous peoples whose ancestors' footsteps have marked this territory for centuries, including the Nahawak, Nitsitapi, Metis, Nakodasu, Dene, and Anishinabe. We honor the indigenous peoples whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to enrich our shared learning community. In ATEP, we carry teachings of relationality, Wakotowin, and Mioichtawin. Remembering that learning happens in relationship with one another, with community, and with the land. Today we are honored to be joined by someone doing beautiful work in language revitalization and language learning. We are joined by the wonderful Roberta Aluk, who is a Naheya Win teacher at a Miss Gwichi Academy here in Edmonton. Our conversation today is titled Nehawein and Language Revitalization with Roberta Aluk. Roberta, thank you so much for being alongside us today. Yes, thank you for having me, and I'm really happy to be here. Wonderful. To begin for our listeners who may not know you yet, could you introduce yourself a little bit and share a bit who you are and where you're from and the type of working that you are doing with Nehey Aween at Misquichi Academy? So Matinow, Kakya Utah. Hello, my friends. I am grateful for everybody here. My name is Roberta Alek, but my spirit name is Red Buffalo Spirit Woman. Um I'm 29 years old. I'm currently the Nihiawe Wing teacher here at Abisquie Academy, and I teach grade seven all the way to grade 12, so six different grades, uh, secondary, ed, and I in total I have 161 students. Um, and apart from that, I've done a lot of work in the community in regards to cultural uh facilitating anything to do with language. I like creating content for people online. Um and yeah, that's just a little bit about me. Where I'm from, uh Wapuska, Alberta, so I'm from Wapaska on my late dad side. I'm from Dillon on my late mom side. Uh Nia Sagao Ni Hiao Esqueo and Woodlands Cree. I'm also Dene. So I'm like Cree and Dene. I tell everybody a Cree fell in love with a denay. And um, yeah, that's just a little bit about me. Thank you for sharing that Roberta. I am also um from Treaty Territory, so Treaty Eight, what's up? Um, yes, thank you. I'd I'd like to first start off by giving you the space of um sharing a little bit of your your journey and where did your relationship with Nihia Wee Win begin. So actually, like I told you, I'm both Woodlands Cree and Dennis Uncle. Um growing up it was pretty rough, and uh both both of my parents were in residential school, and um, so the language wasn't passed down, and uh because of that, um you know I loved my parents, but unfortunately, like they had split up and it was a pretty traumatic uh upbringing. But my late mom, she took care of us, like me and my siblings, and my late mom, she spoke Danais and Clinay, she thought in Dene, and uh she would always have a hard time uh speaking English. And anytime I asked her to uh oh how mom, how do you say this in Dene? She would get kind of mad because some things you can't translate, right? Or there's a difficulty there. Um, so I actually grew up with my late mom for many years uh with her family, and I'm very close to them, and we speak Dene Swim Clinton. And um, when I go back home, all of a sudden my Denei accent just comes out. But uh yeah, like I know that I'm a Woodlands Cree woman and I know my dad's Kree. And uh, but I never grew up around him and uh I didn't really know him, and he passed away when I was 14 years old, so you know, since a very young age I wasn't connected to my Kree family, and nowadays I'm a little bit more connected, but uh my first encounter with Nihia Wewin, specifically Pasqua Wee, Nihia Wewin claims Cree language, was actually at the U of A. And there's a story on uh the U of A. Um, they highlighted me for uh the 2025 graduate spotlight. They highlighted me, they wrote a little story, and I talk about how I ended up at the U of A and um how I even ended up in Cree class, like it was all chosen for me from the TIP advisors, the faculty of native studies advisors. They put me into Cree class, and I would have never thought to even choose Cree class, like I was like, I just want to go to school, tell me what to do. So they put me in Cree, and that was my first time um learning the language and understanding it, and uh I really excelled in uh that first year class. I was in um introductory Cree 152. My professor at the time, her name was Nikki. I forget her last name because it was Kayas really long time ago. Um, but she taught me, and uh ever since then, like during that uh first year in university, I really caught on to the language. It's like it was always there, right? And um, I could just understand it, and every day, all it took was five or ten minutes uh just practicing the language. Either I was writing it or I was trying to read it and repeat it to myself, and um yeah, I don't know. I just fell in love with it, like I just really fell in love with it and I was really passionate. I even created my own textbook, it's at home right now, I should have brought it, but I created my own like textbook and dictionary, and um yeah, it just kind of started from there, and that was about eight years or seven years ago, so literally seven years ago, and today I'm on Hiawe with teacher. Yeah, wow, what a journey! Yeah, it's been a journey, yeah. Amazing, it's amazing, Roberta, and thank you for sharing that so openly with us and also so beautifully a part of your journey. Um, thinking with you know, your experiences, how you came to Cree class, for example, is something that you would have never imagined. And thinking of your your journey when you were in um studying at the U of A. Often people use the term language revitalization, and of course, it evokes different things for different people. I'm wondering how you feel about that type of framing, or if you feel another way to talk about being in touch with one's language is maybe more appropriate. Right. Well, I think uh a lot of people use that term because it is a reality, right? So uh my generation, you know, I I think of my parents, their generation, they uh they spoke their language, right? For the most part. I know that my parents spoke their language, and uh they were born in the 50s and 60s, and they could fluently speak their language. And uh, I don't know, maybe back then they had more opportunity, especially being back then, um, living in in their communities and uh stuff like that. But then over time, if you understand history, a lot of First Nations people were going from into residential schools, and then from there they were going into foster care systems, and then at the same time, a lot of First Nations people were coming into the city, and so if you compile all those things, there's kind of a lack of opportunity to speak your language. So a lot of people now will say uh language revitalization, right? To encourage uh more people to speak their language. Um yeah, I think the language was always there. I think the language has a spirit, um, and it's up to us to pick it up. And we don't do it alone, right? Like if you go to ceremony and stuff like that, you'll understand that there's certain things at at work. There's a certain force at work, and that you don't have to go at it alone. Like I I I talk about that uh at the conferences and with my students, the language is alive, even if you don't understand it. Um, as long as you're being immersed in it in some way, you're reading it. Because now it's written right, that's another thing. Um, either you're reading it or you're writing it, um, or you're saying it, but you don't understand what you're saying or what you're reading, you're still immersed in it. And um that's the beauty of our language, it does something for us. Just like when we go in the lodge, and um if I have a long time here on your podcast, I'll talk about that, like how that how that was for me and how like how true it is that our spirit, our our language has a spirit and uh has the ability to heal us. So, yeah, there's a lot of um stuff in terms of revitalization. Like our our language is oral, uh traditionally an oral language, but being uh in the system that we are now, all of our kids mandatory have to go to school. So if we're in school um at the start, there was no such thing as Cree class or any indigenous language, there's such things as French and Spanish and all these other languages, and they can produce a fluent speaker. But where our curriculum is now for indigenous languages, we can only uh produce what is called an A1 speaker, so somebody who understands the basics. If you want to learn more, then the curriculum has to be developed more or creating more opportunities to speak in. And um, yeah, so it's a good thing, it's a reality. Um, there's a lot of work that can be done, but it's fun, it's really fun, and I that's what I do all day long. Like I create resources, content like for uh social media, um, and then I make it fun with my students, I make them feel successful with it, and um hopefully, hopefully, in time we'll have some fluent speakers or a curriculum or program you can take and you'll walk away speaking Nihyalwin and thinking in Nihyalwin. Wow, I love that, Roberta, just how you ended off by saying thinking in Nihei Yoin. And especially I admire your passion and the joy that you bring to this. It's just you see it in your body and radiating in your face. And I really appreciate also that you've stated and reminded that language is healing and it's not separate from spirit, it's alive and living, and that's just so key. Yeah, yeah, totally. That's why they they elders will say, or pre-language speakers will say that um it's like it's blood memory, it's like part of who we are, it's within us. And you do just like it's part of who we are, and you just have to just want to, you have to be in that place of wanting to learn it, and everything will come. It's the same thing with me, you know, Nikkio Yan Maga, upset squad and mag and stuff fun. Like I can understand, I can be in a room full of pre-fluent speakers, but it's from when I was younger, you know. I grew up with my Muslim and Kokkum, my mom and dad, you know, they still speak fluent creepy, and it's uh it's like you're just around it, even though I can't converse, but I feel it, like it's something like a feeling you have that you know what they're saying. So I I do I do feel that when you say like it does have a spirit, media we wouldn't do have a spirit. Um, I know uh Noella Steinhauer always like she touches on that. Oh it's it's it's uh it's living. So thank you for for um touching on that. That's important. Um language journeys are often carried through relationships and guidance, mentorship teachings. Were there elders, family members, or teachers who helped shape your shape your path? Yes. Yes, there were so many over the years. Um well first contact contact with like a teacher of some sort would have been Nikki in my 152 university class. Her name is Nikki, I forgot I forgot her last name, but I'm pretty sure she still teaches Cree class at the UV. And um it was it was nice for me to learn from her that first year because I believe I'm pretty sure her to Cree would have been her second language. So she spoke English and she helped me make those connections where I might have been struggling a bit because she spoke English and she knew where I was struggling with. And um, so I learned from her in one five too. Um moving forward, I learned from Dorothy Thunder after that. I also um learned from Ruben Quinn. If you've heard of him, he's an elder in the community. And Reuben Quinn was really great, like he talked about the star chart, and I was fortunate enough to take a class in university with him, but it wasn't like a university style, like he he came in and we had conversations, and he would he would sit with us and talk about the star chart, and we call it Nihia Jack Vegana, and it's arranged in the shape of a star, so our our syllabic system, and he talks about the teachings, how uh our grandfather directions are grandmother directions, eggwa os uh oscariak, those little spirit markers, and how those large spirit markers are our elders, and um where to find them in the stars, and he's teaching us um he calls it kriy yoga. So we'll do Kree Yoga. I have his book too right here. I really look up to him. I also uh help him out at the lodge a few times. Um, aside from those three people, um, my family on my dad's side, I'll call my uncle sometimes. Like I'm still getting to know them, right? And they speak Sagaw Nihiawe when so Bush Creek. So I'll always like fight on uh translations or pronunciations, but I'll still talk to them, right? Uh about oh, how do I say this? And they'll tell me. And um uh and then where I go to lodge. So my uh parents passed away. Their name was uh my dad's name was Robert Alluk, my my mom's name was Joyce Monkran. They passed on, but uh last summer I was ceremonially adopted by my dad and mom, my new dad and mom, uh Trevor Gladiew and Felice Gladiew. So when I go to lodge with them, they're lodge holders, so they run Sweat Lodge and Sundance Lodge, and uh I've been going there now for literally like since since we started up about five years ago, and then prior to that we were all going to walk around Saskatchewan for ceremony. So I've going to ceremony all this time, and there's been a lot of people at ceremony that I'll talk to at um either talking about Crete language or to do with cultural stuff. And this is another thing too, you can't separate uh language and culture. You can try to make sense of the culture in English, but you lose it. You lose it, right? So, like when we're in ceremony and I'm always going to ceremony now, uh, especially with my parents and being a helper there. Um I don't know, things just start clicking and uh talking with people that are coming to the lodge who speak to Hiawe win, Margaret LaRocque and her husband Dave LaRocque. Margaret actually just beated something for the king. It was on the news this week. She beat an medallion, I think. And uh yeah, so her too, like uh being one of my mentors. There's so many, and I feel bad if I miss them, but uh there's been a lot of people, and uh that's a thing too. If you're learning a second language, especially indigenous language, go be in community. People will teach you, and they're more than happy to, right? Yeah. I met um I met with elders today, and it was it was I learned like so much within that one hour visit. And you know, I didn't I don't have them as mentors, but just sitting in there and hearing their teachings and how you know traditional teachings are so important and um me. It just made me it I teared up when they talked about uh how elders are waiting for protocol and they're only here for a certain time, but they're waiting for protocol to share their knowledge and teachings, and there's so many. It just people don't know, people are not spending time with them, not enough time, and they're ready to pass on the teachings and the language, culture and language are so important and the land, those those are they all have to be connected because that's the foundation, you know. Um, but I that that really stuck with me. So that's um it's good you brought that up. I think everybody needs to hear that. Yeah, another one just came to mind. I don't want to leave the mouth. I can't forget, I can't forget to mention uh Francis Whiskey Jack and Elsie. They're always here in my classroom still. The Francis was visiting today too, and he'll always drop in and uh he he doesn't write in creep but he speaks it. So I will like uh I'll show him how to write, he'll show me how to say something or correct me. And it's never in like a bad way, right? But because we're learning. So those are my other mentors and I see them more more often. So them and then my my ceremonic parents, yeah. But that's all true. Our elders, right? They're we call them. Our elders in the community. Yeah, especially the ones that are still here. Go talk to them. If you're listening on this podcast, go talk to your elders. Yeah, sit with them. They have something to say. They have knowledge from Gaias. Yeah. Just give them a secret. I learned today about the importance of well, I know the protocol is always important, but um how the tobacco, she when they accept it, because they don't have to accept it, especially when the timing doesn't work for them. Yeah. Um, but she said, I I I said something like, if you can't make it, she's like, no, I already accepted the protocol. This is my contract now. That's something I I learned today. I was like, you know what, yeah, she's like, you have to, you can't be too nice. You have to be firm. You you already offered protocol. That's the contract. And she even wrote the date on on the tobacco of when it was offered. That's my contract. Yeah, yeah. No, beautiful. Just thinking with there's so much guidance and wisdom to learn from elders that can't be acquired in other places and spaces. And it's to your point to both of you that they're waiting for people to come alongside and to offer that protocol. And thinking with how much emphasis has been put on ensuring that language to your point, Roberta, shouldn't be separate. It's not separate from culture, and it's certainly not separate from spirit. So thinking in that way and the important work that you're you're doing at a Miskowichi Academy, what does your day-to-day look like in the classroom when you're bringing in Heiaween? Yeah, so I thought about what to talk in regards to this question. And there's so much, there's so much that I do all day long, right? So I teach Cree thankfully all day long during this quarter. And um, I'm also a first-year Cree language teacher and the only uh Cree language major within Emmett and Public, and the only Cree language major to graduate from the U of A this year come into Emmett Public. And um, so I have to I have no choice but to make a lot of resources there, especially for secondary education. So Cree language curriculum at a grade one, say elementary years, there's quite a few curriculum or resources available for teachers to utilize and give to their students, whether it's a book, it's a song, or it's um a handout, and uh this is when they're learning really, really basics like numbers and maps, so on and so on. When they come to secondary education and they're still taking creed, it gets a little bit more complex. So, all of those rules to do with the language, making them more independent, making them more confident to read it, to write it, uh, to pronounce it correctly, um, and to actually speak it right. I'm building so many resources all day long for that, for all of, you know, I do a lot of vocabulary stats. Um, but I'll just go for like normal day. I come in and I every day I teach um four classes. The first one is a one-hour class, and that currently I'm teaching grade 10 during that first morning class, and then uh my second class is a two-hour class, and that is for grades 11 and 12. So they're kind of nearing the end of their career language learning in high school level, um, and that's two hours. In the afternoons, I'll rotate uh five different junior high groups throughout the week, and I'll teach two junior high groups every day. And each junior high group gets more complicated, and I teach them only twice a week. So five groups I'll teach twice a week, and they just rotate every day, right? So it just depends what day of the week it is, and I'll be working with that particular junior high group. Um when they come into classroom by now, thankfully, it's been like you know, we're a little bit over half the year into a school. We know what we're doing when we come into the classroom, like my students know what to expect. Sometimes there's a seating plan because uh kind of do classroom management stuff. They know where to sit, they know what to expect. We'll start with the daily routine, which takes about 10 minutes, and that's where we're talking about the day, the weather, what moon we're under, and then we'll have the same conversation, uh basic combo following that. So, like, hello, how are you, what's your name, where are you from, goodbye, so on and so on, but in the away with and then so that's listening, speaking it, seeing it, and then I'll have them write the star chart. And I'm so proud, man. I wish I could make a video real quick just to show people on social media, but I have a lot of my students already memorized their star chart, and um, like a lot of people are really impressed with them, and even I am like they're now just writing the syllabics, right? And um, that's another thing too when we're they're learning syllabics as opposed to SRO, standard Roman orthography. Basically, that's just the English alphabet letters, makes it possible for our English brains to read or or say or write, create. Okay, but naturally our language is the syllabics, that's our written system. So if we're able to read and write syllabics, the pronunciation comes a lot easier. Um, so they're doing that. We go through a variety of uh, so I'll teach a variety of vocabulary sets throughout the year. Um, so we'll do a recap of all different kinds of sets, stats, numbers, animals, clothing, body parts, kinship terms, the moons, TP teachings, so on and so on. There's lots that I do with them. And um, we'll utilize all different kinds of strategies. So saying it out loud, writing it into syllabics, writing it phonetically, how it sounds, um, doing creative assignments. So if we're doing a foods vocabulary set, I'll follow it up with a menu. Okay, I'm watching make a menu now, create a restaurant, um, then putting everything in concrete. And um what else do we do? Lots of other creative assignments, and um yeah, I just love it. I feel like I I hear a lot of feedback from my students and they really like it. They like coming into pre-class and they say that this is their favorite class, and um, because I make it uh fun engaging with them, um, and I try to make it so they feel successful so it's not too difficult. Um, and then I reward them with stickers so every day they'll have some sort of little handout, right? Like a new vocabulary set. If they finish their uh handout, then they get a sticker. They'll they'll work so hard for a sticker. I just love it, and um, we'll do blockets, so gamified learning. So we'll play blockets, and then I even created a store, and I'll just show you something real quick. So, say we're playing a blooket, it's like a gamified uh quiz. So they'll log on to the blookets, they'll make their names, we'll all jump on the same blook, and then I'll hit play, and it'll give them like a bunch of multiple choice questions, and each question they have to choose the correct answer. For example, Pigway mom misfatoo. What is mispeto? It's an R. They have to choose R. And at the end, there's always two winners one that wins the game and one that wins the accuracy. So who have the most correct answers to get five bucks? And then these two in this little square, I it would be blank at the beginning of class, and that's where they'll write their start term. They'll write it once that makes one dollar. And there's this there's so much I do. Like, I wish I could just tell you everything right now, but that's not even like uh all of it. Like, I do something every day with my students, um, so on and so on. I think I got most of it. We'll have a part two just for you. Right. Yes, we'll have to do the part two, Roberta. Yeah, teach a pre-class. Come through my pre-class, you'll love it. I want to be in your pre-class and I want that five dollars. I'm just kidding. Yeah, we do XL too, like ASL for a lot of vocabulary. Yeah, yeah, amazing, Roberta. You're doing so many different, just so many different ways to connect and to learn. And I'm just amazed by you. Yes. Thank you. You're welcome. What a great way to keep them engaged too, you know, your students. And how amazing is it for them to already know how to create to to write the star chart. Like the star chart, yeah. That's yeah, the syllabics, and you're right. When you understand the syllabics, you'll be able to pronounce the yeah, correctly the SRO. When you under When you're reading SRO, it's so like long, right? Like, but then when you're reading the syllabics, it's way easier. You understand what macron, like what when you look at an SRO, when you look at SRO, you'll see it is, especially with the macrons. And um, yeah, I really I bet you like they like sing the syllabic song, or like there's like those, you know, I've been seeing a lot of those the syllabic songs, yeah. Chanting, we'll do chanting with the star chart every day. They'll do that. Wow, songs are the best way to learn. Nikka we went to it's one of one of the tools for sure. And songs are a big part of who we are as First Nations people. Songs are we use them. That's I that's what sustained our languages for all these years. That's true, actually. Yeah, um ceremony. Um, but yeah, I when I teach students how to sing in Kree, I break them down into syllables and they clap using their hands so then it it can flow and they catch. They they're able to yeah, they retain it. They retain it. All right, Don. That's really good. You're doing that with them too. I gotta use once I'm like fully vamped and I know like all the stuff that I'm teaching, then I'm gonna start incorporating content. Like I know Tammy has Cree songs, so try to fit it into lessons. I know there's other stuff out there, but that's another thing that I want to see more of. It's like songs, videos, all in discrete because they have it for like French, they have it for Spanish movies, you know. Yeah, yeah, and they we need an indigenous Miss Rachel, deadly. So when students begin hearing, learning, or reconnecting with their language, those are often really powerful moments and even rewarding for you as a pre-language teacher. What are some moments that stand out for you when you see students connecting with Nihia Weewin? Moments like uh just stories, stories or things that might have happened that you were just like, wow, you know, you're just so proud of your students, or maybe a student, you know, picked up something and just like yeah, I've got uh quite a few uh memories, or like so far, it's only my first year, right? And one comes to mind, you know. Um, so I teach uh project-based students as well. Do you guys know what project-based is? Oh, yeah. Our school has two project-based classes, very amazing kids, but they need a lot of support. So they struggle with reading and writing, um, as well as behavioral management and emotional regulation. And um they're in junior high, but they're at a grade two or three uh curricula, what they're able to do. So they'll still come to Cree class because it's mandatory for them. And um, I struggled at first like trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with them. And um, even expectations, like I would lower my expectations for them, and maybe we'll do kind of stuff as opposed to trying to memorize words or like making it too difficult for them. But I have one student, um I don't even know if I'm allowed to say their name. I'll just say my student. And uh hopefully they'll know who they are if they ever listen to this podcast. But they just blew my mind, man. They they really did, and I really admire the students and how truly gifted they are, and uh makes me think about uh what we call neurodivergent people, or I don't know what their correct term is, but you know, people that are diagnosed with say ADHD or uh autism and how uh people look at them and uh their expectation of them. And um he just totally blew my mind. Like um he came into class and uh uh could never sit still and and uh all this stuff and you know m managing his emotions and but uh I taught him the star chart. He was the first student of mine to ever memorize the star chart, literally just like that. He'll come into class and he'll be writing the star chart on my whiteboard. And I was like, Oh my god, like you're in the project base, you have all these lower expectations, but here you are, you the first one of my students to memorize it. And I give him XRO words, put this into syllabics. He doesn't even look at the syllabics, he just writes it correctly, and I was like, Wow, I'm like you have no idea how proud I am of you, and like you're you're successful in this class, and uh maybe not successful in the math and science, not the clock math and science, but like it's just like that. This is our language, right? And uh yeah, it just blew my mind, and then seeing like high school students, it's really hard to uh get them engaged sometimes. But once I started doing ASL with them, and they're all just doing ASL like uh with me, right? And they'll remember it and really paying attention and wanting to engage in a conversation with you and ASL and Nihia Wingwin. So they're kind of learning two languages, right? And um, I know just to see that and see them really wanting to learn the language and uh seeing them making those connections, like it just uh fills my heart with so much pride and uh happiness, and like I I encourage them uh to continue their language learning journey after this. And I'm like, you know what? In the future, if you want to be a Cree teacher, I'll give you all my resources, especially for students that stand out to me. I have a student that's going into the UBay uh this coming fall, I believe, and they're gonna go into the TIP program, and I wrote in my reference letter. And um, the student I know is gonna excel in Cree class. I hope they go for it, and in the future, I wrote even wrote in their reference letter. Um I'm likely gonna be their mentor when they're ready to start teaching the language too. So I want them and uh kind of like uh teaching them to be teachers to one day. I that's my whole life. Don't just learn it to learn it, learn it to like teach to and speak it. Yeah, and I'm like, you'll have a job, no problem. And I tell them before I even finished my degree, I had six job offers for Cree language teachers. And I know in the future, more people take because you gotta get an education degree, right? If you take an education degree and you're learning Cree, be a Cree teacher, you'll have a job, no problem, and you'll love what you're doing, you'll you'll feel good about it. Yeah, wow, you really are stepping into stepping into your um, you know, you are a language holder, language keeper, and you'll always have that, and you can always pass down those teachings. Yeah, wow, elder in training. Yes, I am one elder, yeah. That's my goal. I even told my principal Mr. Ma. I was like, Okay, my my longtime goal is to be the elder in residence baby. I already feel your cookum spirit. She's coming out, huh? I got some blue hairs, I'm just so proud of him. Cass loves the growth real ugly too. I'm like, everybody listen up right now. Hey, gather around, listen up, mate. Listen to cook of me. Thank you for sharing that, Roberta. I'm just loving loving you what you're sharing, and it's such a gift to just sit here and listen to your students' experiences. You know, that's that just shows like how powerful our language is. And sharing that one of your students just remembered, like like memorized the star chart, but just understood, didn't even look. It's um, it's just like yeah, just oh wow. I um I thought about that too as I'm doing my research. Kids are just students or early learners that struggle with speech when they sing or when they speak in Cree, you know, that goes away. Like they it em those challenges aren't there. I feel like there should be another word, but I don't, I it's so awesome to see who the power are Nikawi Win has. We could listen to you like for the rest of the evening, Roberta. And I'm just one of the things I have to say with deep gratitude is that very often people use that phrase leading with purpose and you know, living with spirit and intentionality. And I just see that in you so deeply that you're really walking that walk and it just flows out of your heart and spirit. And it's just really heartwarming to hear what's happening alongside your students and how you're gonna be there to continue mentoring and encouraging in that capacity. So that just makes me very excited on many levels that you're doing such important work and we see so many beautiful and generative things happening across communities right now. So when we think of, I mean, you could talk about this, I'm sure, for the rest of the evening with us when you were just saying, Oh, I want to show you this, I wish we had more time for this, um, and thinking about how with this student that you were saying, he just completely picked up the star chart like that. So, when thinking alongside all of that, what do you feel are some of the things that are working really well right now in terms of language revitalization that gives you a lot of hope? Um, seeing it on you know social media is a big thing right now. And um, I don't know about you guys, but uh back in my day, I uh I um I never seen that online, like uh people had this native pride, right? Like honestly, when I think back to my childhood and youth, there was no uh the only thing to do back then that was normal was to kind of and I grew up in Prince Albert, so uh you know, the choices were to go out and party or to go out and kind of have no goals and it was kind of sad. But nowadays and uh I look at my kids to a I'm a guardian. For my 16 year old. They have no like they're they're completely opposite of me growing up and they have a completely different experience than I do at their age. There's this like movement on uh social media and amongst native communities that I see is uh coming more and more and more. This uh encouragement to live sober lives, to uh learn your culture and to learn your language and how proud people are of it. And um how they say that's the answer more and more, and it's proven, right? It's proven and um seeing kids wanna engage with it more and like here they come to my school at Miswichi Academy, and you see culture everywhere that wasn't like that back in the day. Even like back in my days, this was just 10, 15 years ago when I was in high school. And um, so that's really nice seeing uh more and more people uh take up the culture, talk about the culture and the language, either so through social media or even in the school, it's mandatory now to incorporate indigenous uh culture and knowledge. Uh it's mandatory for teachers in their classroom. Um, when we do land acknowledgements, um that's kind of like a trend that's happening now. Um and there's more events that are available for people, especially in the city, like our round dances, palows. Um yeah, there's like lots of them. I think that's really good, and uh hopefully it keeps up and in the future we can have um even more like uh like I think of other cultures and they have my my vision is like one day to have movies in Cree or more actors in Cree, or um like specifically with Cree language, right? Because like it's so easy to go on Duolingo and learn Spanish, or it's so easy to go on Google and ask Google how do you say this in in French? You know what I mean? But for a language we don't have that quite yet, but it's getting there and it's more and more popular now to know your culture, to know your language, and um yeah, there's even a Kree conference happening, two of them. I just went to another one too, it's all in Cree. I'm like, oh starting up. I know I'm trying to get the hookup to the we're just talking about that earlier, actually. Yeah, hook it up, yeah. Oh yeah, that's uh so there's uh Silar Conference, I'll be speaking at that one, yeah, or supporting indigenous language revitalization, and then I'm also gonna go attend uh Nihiawe, that's what it's called Nihiawe Wind Conference. That one's I want to say next month, so is the Silar Conference, and then there's youth Nihiawe Wind Conference this coming October. Um, I just went to Tapu Gite Conference uh last month. Yeah, but they're they're coming out more and more exciting, and I love how you noted. I mean, how things have changed and they're changing in a really good way, like when you were talking about this 16-year-old having a completely different experience in that way, so which is gratifying to hear, and I saw put that smile on your face, yes, right, yes, um, you know, at a at a time we know that language teachers and communities are still navigating many barriers. You think of the resources, the inadequate resources. What are what are some challenges that language teachers and communities are facing right now? Oh, so many, so many challenges. Um I think like here in Edmonton, uh the creek teachers are kind of and I'm new this year, so maybe it was like this before where they were all connected. But I'm new, so like staying connected and uh uh trying to have uh the same sort of uh giving the same sort of language experience to students. It's different everywhere you go. Like I have a lot of students that are that are new for me, especially because I'm a new Cree teacher, right? So a lot of the students that come to me, maybe they had grade six uh pre-language in the past, or maybe they had if they're in high school, grade nine pre-language learning in the past, but they've gone to like three different pre-teachers, and all the teachers taught it completely differently because there's no resources. A lot of pre-teachers will create their own resources or so on and so on, and uh so that's a big uh challenge um having something that's kind of across the board. And another thing too, it's hard to do that at the same time because there's so many different dialects. And um, so me, I teach Plains Creed, but Plains Creed has seven dialects, and so if I'm gonna teach Plains Creek, it's more appropriate to teach it here in central Alberta and into central Saskatchewan because it's Plains Creek people, but if you go up north, it's gotta be uh Bush Creek or Woodlands Creek, and uh so on and so on. Um so it's just having the resources available. I think in the summertime I really want to work with Italy to build up resources for secondary teachers, specifically secondary education, um just to have resources available for free for all pre-teachers uh to be teaching sort of the same thing, and um yeah, we need more uh pre-majors in uh in our school system, in our education system because it's very specific uh style of teaching as opposed to to be to being just a teacher, right? When you take a second language as your major, you learn to teach the language as a second language, you learn to teach strategies, you learn to make your classroom an immersive space. Like there's certain things you have to do uh in terms of teaching a language, specifically a language, and not everybody knows those things, so yeah, that's a big challenge it's giving everybody kind of like the same level, but these conferences are helping, and uh we were actually talking about that and these conferences and making resources for free, right? Yeah, okay, I'm saying like I really appreciate that you highlighted the different dialects, and sometimes for folks on the outside might have assumptions about approaching the language from a singular lens and forgetting that it's so particular to where you're from, and that the teachings change also according to where you are, and so on and so forth. So I appreciate that in all, of course, the efforts that must go into creating resources according to all of those different dialects. Yes, right, and then you think of Dene language, like um where I grew up. There's 26 dialects, and that's just talking about two languages, Cree and Dene. There's also you know, Blackwood Su, Tzu languages, um so many, so many languages. Like, how do you keep all of them, right? Exactly. Um my my brothers, like I call them my brothers, but they were part of the Bear Grease cast and they're from New Mexico, and they speak, I was like, you speak Navajo, no, we speak Danay, and it's like you know, it's a and I was like when we went to uh Fond duac, I was like, Do you understand? And they they could like kind of understand certain words, but yeah, it's again because there's it's it's the dialect of the language you come like the the community you come from. Yeah, yeah, I do. Wow, oh my gosh, Roberta. We could sit with you. I just want to continue this all night and hang out, but I mean, it seems already. I mean, you have such a firm and sort of powerful vision looking ahead. Um, what kinds of supports then do you feel language teachers and communities need ideally so that Nehaya Wei Wen can continue to grow and flourish? Um, each other, if you're an educator, if you're a language teacher, it's good to lean on one another, sharing those resources, sharing with one another the difficulties. Um because one of the things too is like I felt really bad having to grade my students for their language comprehension when in the first place like language was taken away through education, right? And I really wanted somebody to talk to about this well the my admin and my role as a teacher is I have to assess my students, right? And that was really difficult for me. Thankfully, I got in touch with other create teachers and they felt the same. How can we uh assess our students by forcing the language on them? Or, you know, how can we go about it instead? So having those people available to talk to and really just trying to um like our language has a spirit, so if we're teaching it in a classroom, having those admin, having the principals understand what we're doing in the classroom is not just for the purpose of giving students a grade, it's it's more than that. It's especially for FMMI kids, it's given their spirit back, it's given their identity back. So I'm not gonna give them like a failing grade. If they were in class here being immersed in the language, um, and I did my part, and yeah, there's like some like so many ways to go about it and uh in terms of assessment. I think about that especially as a teacher now, right? And um having like luckily I'm here at a Mesquichi, I have so much support being here. My principal, my vice principals for both high school and junior high. Um, all of the admin team, they love what I'm doing here, they support me. Um, anything I want to print for my classroom, like with posters, they'll print that for me. Um, and then me talking to people in the community. Um, and that's part of what I do too, right? Like I have to put myself out there and asking for help, and um, just having those people available. And um, yeah, more stuff like this, right? People are interested in talking about language. Um, that's important because it's putting it out there, however little bit or however much is really important. Thank you for that. I'm just so appreciative that you've also brought up assessment and that great tensionality with it, just doesn't make sense in that way. But I'm I'm glad that you were able to connect with other Cree teachers who felt the same way, and that perhaps later, I mean you you're receiving a lot of support, which is amazing that there can be a different approach that could be taken within the system. Yes, exactly. Yeah. Awesome. Just learning to navigate through it together. Yeah, together. We help one another. Yes. Definitely. There's also like um understanding like how like it's already you're already navigating through these loopholes with curriculum standards too. Right. And for them, I love how you brought it with just them being immersed in the language and like having that that space, that safe space for them to just be in the language because it is central to their identity. And when they're strong in who they are in their identity, like there's just so much that comes from that even in itself. And to have support from your admin, you know, that's just gonna that's gonna take you far. Like you're already doing so much in within your first year. I can't wait to hear, you know, your second, your third year. It's it's it's amazing. Yeah, when we think we will have lots of speakers across Emmitt and Public, across, you know, then it trickles out from there into Alberta all over. And uh yeah, I can't wait. Watch, watch me, yeah. I end up already seeing you flirt, already seeing it, Roberta, like seeing it online, the influence, the not influence, but the impact. That's how we have to look at it. You know, it's uh it's a positive way to impact and to showcase how not only beautiful our language is, but how how important it is. And you know, just like you said, we're it's a new time. Um technology is on our side to utilize that as a tool. It's uh it's amazing. So when you think now looking towards the future, when you imagine the future of Nihia Wee Win, what do you hope to see in the next generation? I think across the board for a lot of uh people as passionate as me, seeing people speak it, not just read it, write it, hear it, but actually speak it. And uh seeing uh speaking it in all different kinds of situations, not when we just go back home. That's my my my my hope for the future. Wow. Hi, hi. We wish we could spend the rest of the evening. I think Tam, there's gonna have to be a part two if Roberta's if Roberta's up for it. But I did see you your talk for Siller get advertised. I'm like, oh, she's gonna be on the podcast too. So yeah, but it's gonna be amazing, and just wanted to share so much gratitude for you being here with us today, for you sharing your experiences, all of the amazing things that you're doing alongside younger people, your journey with Nahe Wewen and the work that you are doing for the community. And we are so truly appreciative and grateful for what you're gonna continue doing as well as we move forward together. Hi, hi, thank you guys. Yeah, thank you so much for having me on this podcast, and uh yeah, I'm really grateful. And uh yeah, thank you for sharing your teachings with us, your story, your journey. I'm just excited to see where it's gonna take you.