Episode 8: Understanding the Impact of ATEP with Guest: Dr. Evelyn Steinhauer

What has been the lasting impact of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP)? In this episode of miyo-wîcehtôwin: stories that teach and heal, hosts Tammy Rae Lamouche and Dr. Zahra Kasamali welcome Dr. Evelyn Steinhauer, a nêhiyaw iskwew from Saddle Lake Cree Nation, Professor in the Faculty of Education, and Associate Dean of Indigenous Teacher Education at the University of Alberta.

Drawing on more than 18 years as Director of ATEP, Dr. Steinhauer reflects on the program's remarkable legacy and the relationships that have shaped its success. She shares stories of supporting Indigenous students, strengthening partnerships with First Nations and communities, and helping create pathways for Indigenous educators, leaders, and role models across Alberta and beyond.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:22

And so welcome to Mio We Tech the Win, Stories That Teach and Heal, the ATEP podcast from the University of Alberta. This is episode eight, Understanding the Impact of ATEP. We are so grateful to gather with you all today. Before we begin, we acknowledge that the University of Alberta is located on Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of First Nations and Metis peoples, including the Nihog, Dine, Nikodasu, Soto, Nitsitapi, and Métis. Nenaskomun, to our elders and knowledge keepers who continue to guide ATEP in a good way.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

We are deeply honored to sit with Dr. Evelyn Steinhauer, former ATEP Director, Associate Dean of Indigenous Teacher Education, and someone many of us know as a matriarch within ATEP and beyond. Dr. Steinhauer, thank you for being with us and for the many ways you continue to shape, carry, and sustain the program and its people. Thank you. You're so welcome.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

Yes, thank you, Nanaskum Then, for coming to to join us today on Mewajetu and ATHEP podcast. We're so honored to have you here with us, Evelyn. Um just uh we'll start off by I'll ask the first question. Um, so this one, this one, this question is just sharing your journey and how ATEP became such a central part of your life and work across your roles as director, associatean, and as a guiding presence within the program.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Hi, hippin' to make a nuts. Evelyn Steinhauer and Yan Sega, Kapuna Kochania. Uh, my name is Evelyn Steinhauer. I come from the Satellite Cree Nation, and uh I'm really honored to be here today. And I say that because just being in ATEP, just being uh with uh with the folks that come to decide to come and study at ATEP is a real gift for me. Uh, I really want to honor all of you that are on the screen with me today as well, and taking the time to sit with me and just maybe hear a little bit about my journey coming in. So I really started with ATEP way before it even started. So, one of the things that uh that I often tell people about is that ATEP started uh in a different format way back in the 70s. So it was in 1975 that that uh they attempted to do something similar to ATEP. It was it was a collaboration with the uh University of Alberta and Blue Quills College at that time. So it was uh what what they referred to as the Morningstar program. And many people that we know have come out of that program. They're leaders, they're doing just wonderful work and really leading the way in Indigenous teacher education. But that program ran from 1975 to 1982, and although it wasn't the same format as we have in ATEP, it really was the beginning, and I think that's where it really started motivating people to start pushing for our own teacher education program. Um, even though it had to be situated within an institution such as the uh University of Alberta, you know, it probably would have been nice if they could have kept it at a tribal college at that point, but things happen the way they're supposed to happen, right? So uh it basically went from 75 to 82, and then after that, it was gone for a very, very long time. So in the late 19, uh in the late 19, maybe 1999, people really started thinking again about getting teacher education going. And I know for sure there's many people that were involved in it, and so I won't name names, but they were really uh probably some of them were had come through the program, come through the Morningstar program, and they really wanted to start offering another type of uh delivery. In that Morningstar program, people didn't get the opportunity to stay at at home right through their whole program. I think they did two years there, and then they had to come to the University of Alberta for two years. So when we started thinking about ATAP, when people started coming forward in the late 90s, they were thinking about a way that we could keep people at home in their own communities, not only to prevent them from having top root families, but also so that we would almost guarantee that they're gonna go back and teach in their own communities. So the uh the visionaries who were really looking looking at uh starting a BED program wanted uh the full four years where students could stay in their communities. They uh started seeking funding because one of the things that we probably many people probably don't know is these indigenous teacher programs or any indigenous programs usually are just grant funded. You're always looking for money. There most institutions don't have dollars set aside specifically to run a program. And so people went on a hunt, they went looking for money. Um, they I think the first person, the first company that actually uh really made the commitment to deliver the uh an education program was Synchrude. You know, of all people, it was Synchrude that actually uh uh kicked in the first uh first bit of money. And then uh I think at that point, also maybe a year after or two years after, Alberta Ed also kicked in an envelope of money. And uh so ATEP started. Uh, we were given the go-ahead to do ATEP in 2001, and I was working at Blue Quills College at that point, now Blue Quills University. I was working there as the uh director of student services, and I was really excited about this new opportunity for people to actually become teachers. And uh yeah, so while I was working there, we started recruiting, we started getting students in the door or potential students in the door. And although we were probably we felt we were ready in 2001, it didn't actually kick off until January 2002. So that was the first cohort of students, and they were at Blue Quills College. So January 2002, they started. If I recall, there were about 26 students. Many of them decided, you know, after the first term or after several weeks in the program that they didn't want to do this program at this point. Um, you know, we often think about doing certain things until you actually do it, and then you realize just how much how much of a commitment it is. And then in the fall of 2002, we partnered with a with a mainstream college, which was Northern Lakes. And there they they started, they started uh again the recruitment in the summer, and we started in the fall, and in that cohort, there were probably more or maybe 50-50, 50% indigenous and 50% non-Indigenous students that came. And again, with the same numbers, maybe 26 students, but you know, by the time it was full force, it was probably more like 18 in each cohort, and and and yeah, that's how it started. So basically, that was what we call a two plus two program. The first two years were delivered by the colleges, and the second year, the second two years was when the University of Alberta would come in, and we'd actually go into the sites. So we would go, instructors, professors would go to Blue Quills, instructors would go to Slave Lake at that point when it first started, and and we would be there. And then as time went on, we started expanding even more because this this was really something for people in the communities, uh, and and like I said, even non-indigenous peoples, because they wanted to stay home. So we we ended up recruiting many, many people to come into the program because they love the convenience of staying home and not having to move and move into Edmonton. Um after several years of doing this community-based sort of uh program, uh, we we started looking at having a full four years that ATEP would deliver. And that came in about uh 2017. We decided we were gonna expand to the secondary route because up until then, ATEP was always an elementary ed program. Um, in 2017, we received some funding from Alberta Ed, so it was probably closer to 2016. 2017 we received these dollars and we started recruiting people to come into the program. Um Cheris Oger is one of them, Danielle, Danielle Steele, um, John Cardinal, Stephanie, Stephanie, uh what's Stephanie's last name, Tammy, here in her program.

SPEAKER_04 9:49

Stephanie, she's um she's in the master's program.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah, yes. So yeah, so it's it's really, really awesome that we have, you know, many of you come in after. Not only did uh some of those come through ATEP, but many of you have joined together and are doing a master's degree now. So I'm getting off track. But anyway, in 2017, we uh we took a new cohort. Alicia Cardinal was in there. Yeah, there were several several that are now doing a master's degree, but during that time, uh we graduated uh a small group to begin with, and then we kept that that that uh secondary program going for a bit. I think in the first cohort, uh Sean Gray, I'm just thinking of other names, in that first cohort, you know, we had a we had a good graduation rate. There were some that just stayed behind in in because life happens, they had to take uh, you know, some extra time. But yeah, so that was the beginning. And then in 2018, uh Alberta Ed uh contacted us to say that they had these dollars, which is for us, you know, and and that's that's what I really believe is things will happen when they're supposed to happen. And they approached us and they asked us to apply for this, uh, these dollars that they had, and it was like a substantial amount of money. It was three three million dollars. And so we applied for this grant and we got the grant. So the grant really is what we call the expansion grant, and that's when we really started thinking about how are we going to do this. Uh, it took us a couple of years before we actually really started moving on it, but we ended up really thinking about other ways that we could attract students to come to ATEP. And one of those ways was to ensure that they had access to ATEP without again moving. So we did we started the first online cohort, you know, and we already had some experience with this because even with the community-based cohorts before 2017, we started using different platforms. Like we would go to Portaj College and we would go to Laclbish and then uh use a platform where they we would bring in students from Cold Lake, or we would go to uh Slave Lake, or we go to Peace River, and there would be like 12 different 12 sites of students. So we were already pretty good at doing this. And uh, you know, it was a little bit scary because one of the things that I always felt is that we can't teach teachers how to be teachers. Um, sorry about that. We can't teach teachers how to be teachers in their basements because we weren't really good at the online uh, you know, although we did a little bit of it, we weren't like I can't say we were expert at it. And of course it was a different, it was a different platform now. We're using Zoom, we're using Google Meet and so forth. So it was a little bit different, and I didn't really trust it, but we tried it and it worked so well. It worked so well. People were able to become teachers and they form communities and their online cohorts and so forth. So that was, you know, maybe in 2022 that we really took off with this. We had maybe, you know, four, I think totally maybe we had two two big, bigger cohorts. So we had an online cohort and we had an in-person cohort. Uh so students would come to ATAP in-person or they would study online. And at and now from one uh one or two cohorts, we now have like 11 or 12 cohorts that are running. So it's really, really expanded. And we and they've learned how to they've learned how to uh to form community within those settings, right? They have good relationships with one another, they have uh met lifelong friends. Sometimes they meet only when they are coming to maybe orientation, or sometimes the first time they ever meet is graduation. But what really, really blows me away is how much they know each other already and how much they love each other. So, you know, ATEP has had opportunities for them to come together in many ways. Uh, they start, uh our team started coffee chats with them, but even with those coffee chats, that probably wasn't enough because students started getting together on their own after. So, right now we have students that are across Canada, all the way from northern BC to Nova Scotia. And sometimes students will be working together from northern BC and Nova Scotia, like they they partner up, right? So there's there's it's been a whole evolution, but what I really appreciated about ATEP is how we have all become a family and how we have we are so guided by our natural laws, our creed uh values, and how uh students, most students will probably almost there's always one or two that that might complain, but the majority of students love their experience. You know, I was just talking to my granddaughter who who was saying, because I finally recruited her, you know, after years and years of trying to recruit her, she went to Portoge College, she went to Nate. I finally recruited her to come to ATEP, and she so many times has told me, I have found my place. I have found my place. I don't even know if she ever really wants to be a teacher, but she has found a program that nurtures her, that loves her, that respects her, that honors her own ways of knowing and being. But you know what? I'm gonna give you guys some opportunity to ask me some questions because otherwise I'll just keep going. You don't even have to ask me questions because I can for an hour straight.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

Yeah. First of all, I just wanted to say, you know, the fact that you you were able to name students that were part of the the first, like, you know, the on-campus cohort, like that's that shows that ATEP is about family and community. And you know, most educators don't ever remember their their students' names, you know, but this is that was just really beautiful. I just wanted to comment on that.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

Yes, I know I know you can keep going, Evelyn. So, and that shows so much your love and passion for what you do and the deep care, and just uh Tammy's point, how you know everyone who is alongside you so deeply.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, I really appreciate you pointing that out, Tammy, because I could name some students from the first cohort from the 2002 cohort. 2002. You know what is really, really exciting? We have been reviewing the applications for the Masters of Educational Studies program that you're in. And I see people in there from, you know, one of the earlier cohorts. Maybe they graduated in 2012 or 22 years. Uh, but yeah, we got to know these students really, really well. And we used to, you know, one of the things that I make sure of is all students in ATEP have access to my telephone number. It's on, I put it in my email uh address so that I mean in my email so that they could actually see see the number. Um, back when we only used to have 40 students at a time, every student had my number. I knew every student, I knew their families, I knew their children. And Angela Wolf, who used to work with me, was so good at developing these relationships and making sure that everyone felt comfortable enough to come to us. Like we were the we were the matriarchs, we were the aunties, we were the ones that you know they would come to even in crisis, in their own crisis. So yeah, I was really happy when I was reviewing those MES applications that there's so many that I remember, I remember lots about them. I think right now we have we have a total of 39 students that have applied. So the cohort is way too big. Of those, 22 are ATEP graduates. And I recognize every name on there, every single name, even the recent ones. Um, although I don't teach anymore. That was another thing that really got me grounded, is I used to teach always in the program, always, because I needed to develop those relationships, right? And Angela was always on the ground visiting people, whereas I never always had that opportunity, but teaching gave me the opportunity to know people at a very different level. And you all know that when you teach. Yeah, so thank you for that again. A little bit answer, but thank you.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 18:49

Thank you for that, Evelyn. And this sort of connects to some of the things you've already shared so beautifully. But you've often told us that ATEP is more than a program and that it is a way of life. What does that mean to you? And how do students come to live and experience that at ATEP?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah, I can speak from my from what I observe. I was not an ATEP student, but uh I live ATEP. Um, yeah, so one of the things that people always misunderstand is that ATEP is just another delivery mechanism, but it but to me it's more than that. It's and and like I like uh Zara said, it's it's not just a program, it is a way of being. When you come into ATEP, you know that you belong to a family, you know that you can uh reach out to anyone at any time, you know that you're going to be respected, you know that you're gonna be loved, you know you're gonna be appreciated, you know you're gonna have a different experience. You're not gonna be one student coming into a program, you're going to be a team of people coming together and you're gonna build relationships and you're going to get to know each other at a very different level. So, you know, we talk about Wa Gutuan. Um, I think we all become really uh we we we come to know that we're all related in some way. And it doesn't necessarily mean by blood, but related by our experiences, by the energy that's exchanged between us, by just the way that we're in relationship with one another. So uh, you know, uh when people ask about ATEP, often I think people will think it's it's like I said, an outreach, like a different way of reaching people, but it's more than that. And I often say when people come to ATEP, not only are they learning the academics, but they're learning how to be in relation with one another. They're learning how to uh come to study with their spirit, and they're also learning that they don't have to leave their families behind, they don't have to leave their identities behind. You can be whoever you are uh without ever having to, you know, pretend you're somebody else. And that's one thing that I really, really appreciated about ATEP right from the beginning is people could tell us anything. Like I don't think there's anything that I haven't heard. Just watch, I'll hear something today that's really out of the ordinary. But you know, there's there's been so many ups and downs with students in the program. We've had uh one student who uh, and and this has happened probably too many times, maybe two or three times, but one student who was studying to be a teacher at Blue Quills, and during her last term of the program, she uh lost her daughter. So it was between the uh it was in spring term, it was just at the end, the the last week of the first three week offering, and her daughter got uh killed in a car accident. And so we made sure we worked with the instructor in a way. And of course we also make sure we bring in the best instructors. And that's why I was recruiting you this morning, Tammy, because we always work with the best. So so we uh we made sure that everybody was on board and she was she was with a team of, I think there were 17 students in that cohort and they were like family to each other. They loved each other and I don't think a day went by where they didn't tell each other that they loved each other. So at the end of that during that last week um we her peers worked with her to make sure that she was doing her assignments as they're planning for the funeral. There was a week in between where they did they had a little bit of a break if I recall so students tended to her during that time. And then when it was time to start the next course students would pick her up drive her to work they or drive her to school they would make sure she had a lunch but they honored her and lifted her basically carried her through that term and she is one of the best teachers. She's a teacher at one of the schools that my grandchildren attend uh namely Kesley she gets to see her every single day so she's now like an assistant uh principal uh but you know I it it it really came full circle with her I always remember one of the things that I always said about ATEP is I want our teachers to be standing in front of our children I want those uh those children to have a different experience than me and when when uh my grandchildren the twins started grade one they started with this particular teacher and when I walked into that classroom I literally cried because I for some reason I maybe it was the second week into their course into their uh year one I walked into her uh into the classroom or I dropped them off or something and and and there was Jackie standing there and she was the teacher of my grandchildren which you know still brings me uh tears because they're having a different I said to myself that day they're having a different experience than me they don't have to worry about slipping up their Indian accent they don't have to worry about you know behaving in a certain way they don't most importantly they don't have to leave themselves behind they were able to bring their whole spirit in so this is what I think we're trying to model for students in ATEP when I say it's not a program we're trying to model a different way of being you know miwichituan sagitoen tapa dimuin you know all of those values that we lift so so easily in ATEP are so important and that's what I think really sets us apart from other TEPs I can say that you know I've I've had the opportunity to review some TEP programs in in uh BC and one in in ITEP in Saskatchewan which is a long long standing program and they're doing wonderful wonderful work uh and you know uh and I'm sure they're doing the same things but we've we've now gotten to a place where those values those guiding values really are threaded throughout everything through through the coursework that they take through the way that we're relational ourselves in in ATEP how you know we we could walk around on the floor and or greet each other in the morning with a hug or leave at night with a hug and in and you know easily say I love you to each other so we we model that so that teachers our pre-service teachers when they become teachers in their own class could do that. So you know in most programs you're learning the academics but you're learning how to be in your spirit with your spirit in in in ATEP.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

Thank you. Wow thank you Evelyn so beautiful and you spoke about that with such care and such love the story that you shared about a student who had lost their daughter while they were studying at the same time the way that you shared the type of support and upliftment they received where they're at now and how things are for many young children now within community, having a different experience in schooling contexts and not having to leave themselves behind. Like you said being able to fully show up just you know really evidences the commitment that ATEP has holistically to those that they're alongside and the way that the program really upholds kinship and that love and that knowing that you're on the ATEP floor is always a place to get a good hug to be safe to have a good cry to enjoy some good food and to be able to be in ceremony so thank you for sharing that thank you yes andas komt and thank you for sharing that story too and you know of course of course you're you're looking at a different generation like through the eyes of your new sim suck and that's real beautiful too you see that things are changing but in a good way and um I would I would get emotional too that's uh thank you for sharing that that was really beautiful across across your years with ATEP you have witnessed generations of students move through the program in what ways have you seen ATEP change lives not only professionally but within identity language families and community yeah that's a really really good question you know one of the things that I often pay attention to is um students or graduates like I I still I'm in touch with people or I see their social media posts and I see how their lives have been totally transformed.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

You know I it it makes me so happy when people you know are going after they become teachers when they get their first paychecks you know when they're buying they're now you know setting themselves up with a mortgage or they're you know they're going on these worldly trips which you know I never ever got to take as a as a yeah I never got to take you know I I very very rarely ever go on holidays but they're doing things that you know they would never have had the opportunity so that's for themselves. So they're taking care of themselves but what I see is they're taking care of others in this along the way you know when I see and hear children you know uh talking about their teachers with such love and compassion that just makes me so happy because I know our children are getting a different experience. I I often think about those those uh not only those children that they're working with but the families that they're impacting as well sometimes the people that come to ATEP are the first ones to ever go to university and and as a result it's nothing it it's not even a second thought for people to for the the rest of the family or their children to even think about university. They they are our biggest recruiters they are the ones that actually are uh making the change in community you know we offer the program or this way of being but they're the ones that have the biggest influence they really do uh I I really do believe that ATEP saves lives and I don't say that in in a in a really uh flippant way I say it because the people that come through the program learn to be really good people you know skita mockdansakis miokmatzik they learned quickly how to how to live a good life and how to be kind and how to be compassionate and then it it just trickles into the families you know one of the things that that always saddens me is when I was uh on the board of education with my community we had a suicide of a 10 year old child and I often and and although they're school they're going to school on reserve you know I I I still think that until we really fill our schools with people that know who we are and it could be indigenous or non-indigenous but with those that are really caring and understand our worldview and perhaps even better if they walk our worldview, if they walk within our ways, then we're going to start you know we're we're gonna see less of those things. Like there's no reason why we have to see a 10 year old or hear about a 10 year old committing suicide. You know and and I know the schools can take responsibility for that and they never should but they're the ones that actually sometimes the only people that our children can reach out to. So I think you know in in those ways we save lives as well. But in in many ways I often say that ATEP has saved my life as well not that you know uh not in a way that you know that's you know that's that maybe most people would think about you know saving lives. It would be because I got to experience something that most people would never have the opportunity I get to work with students that are making a difference. I get to work with staff that are so committed to their work and so committed to their students um I get to be a better person because so many of the team have taught me how to be a better person. Like I mentioned Angela Wolfe at the at the beginning or somewhere here just a little while ago and I was thinking about the impact that she had being the co-director or associate director of ATEP at that point because she was so loving. You know I don't think a day ever went by or even an hour ever went by where she didn't come and show me her love in some way you know whether it was bringing me a cup of tea or or just sitting with me to laugh or or uh you know literally telling me she loved me you know there were so many signs that she she modeled that in such a beautiful way that you couldn't help but internalize it. So it becomes part of you as well. So when I say it saved my life it saved it changed who I was because of all the love that you get you're able to give more right and I know even within our families for those of us who are a little bit older we never heard I love you at home. You know we we knew our families loved us we knew our kukums and Musums loved us but nobody ever said those words but when you actually hear those words you feel those words right so those those kind of things really do have an impact on us. And uh we when when you speak about language we have about nine different language groups that study here at ATEP and I know our guiding values are in Cree and they're basically only in Cree because of those that came before me and myself you know being Cree. Some of them are my best friends uh but I can't ever profess to know or to feel those words because they're not just words like we see uh Miwichitu and right behind us you know that's that's not just a word that is a feeling that is again a different way of being right and so I can I could never do that but what we do is we invite students to take those words or take take the time to visit their their elders their family members and talk about words that really are uplifting and there's some that definitely are are uh probably the same or similar like sagituan for instance like love every one of the language groups I'm sure has a really good word for love um and so we invite them to do that we have a group of uh students that are just at the end of their program they're just at the final end and they're blackfoot students from Kainai and in surrounding area and and they have their own guiding values as well they have you know and and those are the ones we encourage them to learn. And although we don't teach languages in ATEP we do encourage people to go and immerse themselves in their culture and in their language and I think one of the things that the guiding values have really done is it brought people together generations together. So when we are lifting our own Cree values then people who are say for instance Blackford or Dana will go to their elders they'll go to their parents they'll go to different community members to find out what those words are so then you're really solidifying relationships there, right? So I always hope that it would really bridge this gap because we do have generational gaps. You know lots of times the youth don't talk to the elders but now it's bringing people together because people want to know so how do you say sagitwin in our language? You know which word do you elevate here? How do you say respect? You know so so people are curious now and they're they're building bonds that we would probably never experience in a regular program because nobody has asked you to do that.

SPEAKER_04 36:28

Wow I I just want to say thank you every I just feel like when you talk about ATEP I know you have a strong connection and it's also beautiful you know when we did that language as pedagogy project too you know I I realized that that people are coming from different backgrounds of in their communities we have the Dine and we have you know Blackfoot we have Cree even like the different types of Cree you know the the woodland the the teenager like midchief too you know that's that's so true with midchief because I grew up in Gift Lake as well and you know there's some words there that I I I thought were Cree but they are midchief. So it's um yeah I I agree and I'm just it's always awesome being able to even come on campus and see all the the Cree words and the Cree teachings. That's like the first thing you see but the guiding values and I know I know language is so important but it's also beautiful that you you shared that it's it's also um encouraging students to go back to their community and ask elders about certain Cree words or even connecting with them or even like even just sitting with with elders and visiting with them. Taking them back to their roots their home fires so thank you.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Thank you so much for that Evelyn a lot of gratitude again for your sharing and again we just see how much heart and commitment that you have for ATEP and those that you have been alongside and you had a really good segue to the next question that's also connected to language and you've spoken really deeply about the importance of language for example with supporting intergenerational connections through reclaiming relationships that were previously not the same. So for example you've talked about young people feeling more comfortable to be alongside elders and knowledge holders because of those connections to language and we know with the work that you're committed to alongside the ATEP family that language has always been central to ATEP. How do you understand the role of Nehewen and other Indigenous languages more broadly in shaping how students come to know themselves and their responsibilities and their places in the world yeah that's a really good question.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

I one of the things that I was going to mention in the previous question though is that we do have uh next generations like we have second generations of learners now we have sometimes whole families that come to study with us. And I think that's special and I say that because you know the way that we lift languages imagine studying with your your mom has come through ATEP and then four of the daughters have come through ATEP and imagine the conversations that they have and I'm sure some of them center around language and I'm I'm I'm almost positive that they would you know because they're also cultural many times they they come together in ceremony in in a in a different way and ATEP seems to center like bring them together. It's so exciting to see different generations coming through ATEP but I think one of the things that I I think about when it comes to languages is languages are who we are. I am so fortunate that I was born a first language speaker because language gives us basically gives us the prescription on how to live how to be it tells you how to be you know I I often you know think about just even simple teachings and I know I've might have shared this in another setting but you know some sometimes we just take things for granted we just know because we were in the language and in the language it meant so much more like for instance my my late grandmother used to always say to us you know kigway ki tu taman kaiman mutas like when you're asked to do something don't don't play silly like don't act like you know uh you don't want to do it or that you're you're not good enough to do it like don't don't act stupid basically you know uh it's a privilege when somebody asks you so that whole teaching really like like that's a world that's a different worldview right because it's it is about humility at the same time it's it's teaching you kapati katat tapati mok you know how to how to practice humility in a in a given way because I think many times when people ask us to do things it's not because uh well most of the time it's because we're scared but it's not because we don't want to do it but most of the time it's because our ego is such a big thing in our world we work in an institution where it's about individualism you know where it's about how you how well you could demonstrate how smart you are but that teaching just goes against everything that the institution might teach you. So it's like it's teaching you all of these values at the same time so not only are we uh teaching the Cree words we might be teaching uh these things in the in the English language but we're teaching a Cree philosophy so we're teaching worldview at the same time so even if you never speak the language if you have these teachings then it really does have a a major impact on how you are in the world. Yeah another teaching that my my grandmother used to always tell us is and we didn't even know it was a teaching right we just sometimes you were scolded for something you know uh kaiman mamitsema like don't brag about yourself again I work in an institution where everything is measured on what I do you know how well I write my annual report how many research grants I get how many dollars I bring in you know how many presentations I've had or how many publications but really for us as Indigenous scholars sometimes that's a really difficult thing to do because we that teaching stays in the back of my mind don't boast about yourself because when you boast about yourself too much you're gonna create an imbalance you know something we that's another teaching something bad could happen like uh Leona Makokas often uh used to share with us the teaching of uh bastahuen you know which loosely translates into sin but really what you're doing when you ka pasta manki you're crossing the sacred boundary so in Kree Bastahe means that you're crossing over something So when you're crossing that sacred boundary, you're creating an imbalance. And that imbalance not only has an impact on you, but it has an impact on your on your family. It could have an impact even on the next generation. You know, things might not happen in a negative way. But what I often think about not only my own family or my community, but I think about this community that we live, live in in uh in the faculty here or in ATAP, is that we're we are a family, and I don't want to do anything that's going to cause a disturbance or cause harm to those that I love so dearly that I get to work alongside every single day. So, you know, all of those things, even though they're they, I think they're universal probably in all the in all our languages, but but even though we don't necessarily teach language, we we teach how to be free or how to be Blackfoot without ever formally doing a lesson. So languages are so very important in who to who we are. I don't think I would be who I am with all those things I mentioned before, but also without my language. Because I I learned how to be uh the person that I am today. And you know, we all have something to learn, and I'll learn until the day that I'm no longer walking on this earth path, but it it does teach us how to how to live.

SPEAKER_03 45:29

Wow, thank you for that, Evelyn. I appreciate so much how you're sharing just so much from the heart and how within languages, um it's just a huge force of guidance with being able to live in the world so well and how you wouldn't be who you were if it wasn't for that. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 45:54

Thank you for that. I wrote I wrote it down, and um, it's always a good reminder, you know. Uh there's a way to, you know, when you have that gift and you're in a place where you have to share, and you know, Kisimantu puts you in those positions where he wants you to share your gifts. It's always important to always give thanks. I was always taught that by my Muslim in kuchkum and to not always be so like to always remain humble. And that's always the first thing I talk about too when I when I share when I do keynotes, I talk about Negeg and my home and like how my Muslim in Kuchkum, you know, the teachings that they taught me. So I just wanted to say thank you for that because I'm just it's a good reminder. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Yeah. You know, one of the things that I was also thinking about as we're talking is that I I I truly believe that people get put on your path for a reason. You know, there's times where we're even even those difficult situations, there's there's something that you can take from it, right? But you know, what's so important about those though is to be grateful for those experiences. You know, the other day I I uh was walking to get some lunch of all places at the hospital. I was gonna get a salad there, and then I met up with somebody and we we went different directions. And I went because I was gonna go for a walk, I was gonna go south for a walk a little bit. And for some reason I just turned around because I maybe it was windy, I just didn't want to walk anymore down that way because for for several reasons, but when I turned around, I walked by somebody that was a uh he was in the hospital and he was one of my relatives, and I hadn't seen him for maybe 40 years. And he called, he didn't call my name, he called my sister's name because we look alike. But when I when I uh went closer to him and I recognized who he was, I was so grateful because I hadn't seen him and he was so grateful. He was sharing a of my you know, my nephew's uh experiences, what they do they're doing in their lives. But you know, when I walked away from there, I gave so much gratitude because he I'm sure I'm sure he made my day more than I made his day. Uh but I would I gave gratitude for giving me or pushing me to turn around and be at that time, at that space at that very moment. You know, even sometimes we meet the the most difficult people, but you get something out of it, right? But it's to give gratitude, it's to give thanks for those things. And and I think that's another teaching that I learned growing up. Um, you know, we didn't grow up with a lot. We, you know, my mother raised us on a widow's pension because we had, you know, we'd lost our father when we were really, really young. And but we I never once thought I was poor, right? You know, in in the Cree context, we often say ktamaks, but we're not referring to money. You know, when we say tamaks that it could be that they've lost their families, you know, something has happened or they're sick, but it doesn't, it's not a monetary sort of way of seeing the world. So I never ever thought I was poor. And in fact, I often would hear the prayers in Cree where they were giving thanks for what we have, even when you had to eat that wild meat uh that you didn't necessarily like, you know, loved meat, but there were some meats that I didn't really like, but we ate them anyway, right? And we need gratitude for them. So, you know, those are those are the things I think about. And I hope that each one that's that's hasn't each one of our Xnamagiwak, our advisors, our staff, Zara, every one of those people that work walk alongside those students, I hope they recognize how much of an impact they're having on the students. I hope they recognize how important their their work is and how much they are appreciated. Because when they do that, then they're able to even give more, right? Uh ATEP is is like I said, it's a way of being, and you have to invest your whole self into it. And I know people will often say your job isn't your identity, but my job is my identity. That is who I am, and that's how people know me as well.

SPEAKER_04 50:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:39

Thank you. But we're probably running short of time.

SPEAKER_04 50:43

Um everything you've talked about, I I feel like has really touched on the flow. Um that's exactly what we talked about at the beginning, how everything's gonna just align the way it is supposed to, supposed to go. And um, I just want to say it's been such an honor to to be able to sit here with you, Evelyn, and to hear your story and your journey with ATAP and how it all started. I really do see you as one of the biggest trailblazers in education for Nikiawak for indigenous peoples. And I just wanted to say that you inspire me. I really look up to you and I'm so grateful. You know, you bring, like you said, ATEP is an identity, and you bring your your love, your care, and who you are as a as a Nikhiawisqueo, as a as a grandmother into the the program, and everybody feels it. And it's just it's it's so awesome. And I just wanted to say Naskum tin, thank you so much for sharing with us today.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

Thank you. Did you have a question to ask me, Mikhaila or Mikhaila? I'm sorry, I'm not pronouncing your name right.

SPEAKER_02 52:00

It's okay. I'm sure you've met so many variants of my name that it's just so okay. I don't have any questions. I just want to say thank you for your time today. And I'm so grateful for the you know opportunity to listen to you. And I just wanted to say that, you know, you spoke on how ATEP saves lives. And I think of us as teachers, it saves our lives, but it also saves those students that we're going to interact with, there's their lives. And I think a lot of us wish that we had the teachers that we're trying to become later on in life. So I think that that is such a beautiful sentiment, and I'm so grateful for you to share that.

SPEAKER_00 52:37

Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. That means a lot. It really is nice to hear student experiences, and that's why we often will do uh panels with students. That's why we often will bring in students even to on different research projects, because we really are trying to build capacity, right? And one of the things that I decided uh last year was that I was going to give up my role of ATEP director, which I hold so dear to my heart, because I realized as I get older, I need a succession plan and I need beautiful people to come in and do the work that that that I was fortunate enough to take on. Um and so it really makes me happy uh to hear student experiences and and to know that we are having an impact on those of you that come to study with us. I hike Nanas Kokdin.

SPEAKER_03 53:31

Thank you so much, Evelyn. It's been so beautiful to learn alongside you for the last few years. And I gotta say, you're real deadly. We wanted to have um an episode that was called Real Deadly Auntie. So just there's so many ways that you continue to contribute to inspire us all, and we learn so much from you. I have a lot of gratitude to be able to learn alongside you in the ATEP family, and how you continue to guide us according to our guiding values, which has been one of the most transformative experiences that I've had personally at a workplace, and the amount of love and sincerity and care that we get to experience around each other, and how every ATEP student that I've had the honor to be alongside always tells me how much they love being at ATEP and how supported they feel. I've never heard anything otherwise. So I wanted to share that with you with so much love and gratitude for all that you do and will continue to do.

SPEAKER_00 54:34

Thank you. Thank you. I wish I would have had way more time because I could have talked about the role that Calvin plays here, or elder. You have a part two. Yeah, so we're gonna have to have a part two, but anyway, I'm just talking and I'm just hoping that you're you're it's resonating, but obviously it has been. So I thank you all for listening. And uh for those of you who are uh listening to the podcast, thank you for taking an interest in ATEP. And I hope we've inspired some people to come to ATEP who have never even thought about it. Hi, hi. Hi, hi.

SPEAKER_04 55:13

Yes, thank you to our listeners. Thank you for joining us for Meo with Jithowin stories that teach and heal. Understood this is episode eight, understanding the impact of ATEP. May the word shared today travel in a good way and strengthen the work you are doing in your families, classrooms, and nations.

SPEAKER_03 55:33

And until next time, please take good care of one another.