 Please describe your program. Nehuevyn Cree Language Program is what the program that we offered the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and what it entails is having the Cree Language course offered in introductory and advanced Cree language and we also have independent study that the students can take which is the NS404 which is a Selective Topics course. We also have the Cree Immersion Program in the summer and it's offered through the Canadian Indigenous Language and Literacy Development Institute. What is the aim of the program? Okay the aim of the program is to build the awareness of our of the language, the importance of the language which could be like fluency in the language, knowing who you are as a Nehue, like learning about your identity in the culture, very important to us as Nehuevyn. And to also understand the comprehension, the context of the context of the language, the healing like many of us can be on a healing journey and the aim of that would be to give guidance to others that are need some healing and also to be able to build fluency through reading and writing. So a lot of our language program is based on structure of the Cree language. So the students have to learn the structures of the Cree language through morphemes and also derivations of the language as well. And in the intermediate and the advanced language courses we also offer syllabics which was from way back like before even Roman orthography we had a lot of syllabics and with that it's a living spirit so learning the stories behind the syllabic symbols as well is a huge component of our Cree language. Do you notice a difference or a change in students from the beginning of class at the beginning of the year to like near the end? At the beginning of the class of the year the students are very quiet very almost like they don't really know each other and then as time progresses they are more comfortable. So it's like coming in there as an individual not really speaking to each other and then as time progresses they begin to grow and now it's like building a community they feel like there's a sense of belonging in the classroom. Have you received feedback from other past students or other teachers about the programming teaching? Well through the evaluations I do get the evaluations when at the end of the year so I get to see what the students feedback is through there and also individually like they'll come into the office and talk to me about the language program and what their thoughts are on it and also with the assistance of the TA and the other my co-instructors who work in the Cree language program as well so we kind of like feed each other ideas on what worked what we could do other ways of introducing new ideas of how best practices in teaching Cree. What in your opinion makes this an example of excellence in Indigenous education? For me in Indigenous education entails a lot so we're talking about the history of the language the kinship wa guh tun and for me the teachers would be the elders they would be like the PhD holders that's my my thoughts on really Indigenous education is learning the the roots of it all right where did it come from where are we going with this and what it looked like before a long time ago and comparing it to the way it looks today so for me it'd be talking about and learning about the hunting the trapping the fishing the resources that are available today and the health like the plants that that we have like the medicinal uses for them and understanding how to pick them and when they are harvested so all of that is very important also the wellness of our health and well-being to prayers to ceremony and also meditation right so just looking after yourself is very important before you can help anybody else and then doing it through like the traditional knowledge systems right so being calm content and making sure that you're looking after you right because if you can't do that you're gonna be sick and you're not gonna think properly right so you need to make sure that you have the looking after your health and well-being and also we talk about song and dance right so all the different songs that we have are very important all the different types of dancer that are introduced in what Simone or Pete even and also learning about our own inherent rights the natural laws like having a deep understanding of all of that what happened a long time ago and how we dealt with those even within the community or as an individual like for instance if somebody did something and then like we don't just lock you up okay we're gonna look after you and introduce you integrate you back into the community so the elders will come up with a plan how to get that person back in and more welcome back into the community so that you're not like ostracizing that person and also learning that traditional concepts like the value of the family and the community right and how can work together in a healthy manner and learning the importance of the different ceremonies and the rituals which is kind of more like a personal journey because it's your own spiritual journey that you're going on and I wouldn't say that we would have to ever at first that on anybody it's up to you if that's what you want to do but that was something that was given to us by the Creator and that's what we follow like the Haywalk follow our own traditional based on how we used to do things and the importance of it and having a deep understanding of it and teaching our children that as well as soon as they're born they're teaching that child how to do something the importance of it all kishine yo echik kishine yo kumatschik kishine yo mantune itagik so to think of it like right from the heart right from one's childbirth and that all the way to adulthood into being an elder so all of that stages of life their rituals like the breaks of passage all that could be included in there as well so for me a lot of it could also be a land-based practical teaching is the most important because if we're just gonna sit and read a book like really how much can you understand first hand is always the best way and then understanding all the steps necessary to get from here to there right like seeing past your nose right so much that can be encapsulated in there when you're there in real right doing it like in the now not like thinking about it how do you measure the success in the program for me I see success when the students feel like they have are in a community and they belong somewhere and also they can communicate with me in the language like having an understanding of who they are where they come from and where they're headed and feeling good about it all right along with the reading and writing that comes with it so you're learning at an individual level and then also as a community and learning how to respect each other within that space so feeling very good about yourself learning about your identity and knowing that you do belong somewhere you are important and you're gonna move from here like there's growth in the program there's growth in that person and that it's not all static right it's gonna grow so there's always changes there's different ideas that you can incorporate to the program that is the term indigenous one that you would normally use for me indigenous is more like a monia word it's a borrowed language for me right so that term is like I don't really like to use it I think of myself as in what is the first people of the land and then as Neheo those are our words that's our definition but when I think about indigenous it's more like something that defines you from a monial perspective like white man's knowledge what is your vision for indigenous education over the next 10 years over the next 10 years what I would like to see is to have a lot more land-based teachings having the students visit the land learning from our elders there can be our teachers as well and hearing more of the language so possibilities of having a queer immersion class or other immersion classes like in different languages so really expanding on that and becoming having other languages in here as well with the university not just Neheo but let's bring on like the Dene the Soto the Sioux like that's what I'd like to see is really expanding faculty of native studies but for and that's are you saying just like indigenous education overall yeah okay so that part would cover like the language component of it but indigenous education entails a lot like really talking about the history of Canada and understanding it and also learning from our elders like they share their stories and and we learned from them right so if there was a possibility of doing more of that that would be great and I know there's also technology that being that's being used so I see that as being can be helpful right if we don't have the speakers available that the technology can be used it's not going to help you speak though like how do you know that your your fluency is going on par with what a real speaker would sound like but I do see that as it's already there and it'll probably grow a little more what information materials or resources would you need to achieve that vision I guess the resources could be like being um out on the land and then also having the indigenous knowledge keepers working with them every chance that you get and also working together as a community and bringing the children the elders the adult other things could be like what we just talked about as well like the materials right because literacy is also important it's not going to leave right so I think it's important that the children also learn to read and also second language learners right because I know my son absolutely wants to like he looks at dictionaries and then he'll say how come this one says this and this one says that so just looking at words right and then it kind of like they show more interest in doing it sometimes or just looking at apps and increases their knowledge and it's right at your fingertips right these things are right there and they're like oh how would you say this right and they're it's like they're um how would you call that their interest right yeah they're interested in wanting to learn more how would you define education from an indigenous perspective for me education from an indigenous perspective is learning from our elders being our teachers our mentors and also learning about our worldviews are different from the way people think they understand it but seriously looking at the richness of what's really going on and having a deep understanding of our educational system right so it's pretty hard to kind of learn inside the walls of an institution when the true education for us is having it firsthand