 The summer program that I do is referred to as the Nihawak Summer Language Experience. It's for all ages, families. We usually start in mid-summer. It's a week-long summer language acquisition camp. This program came to light in regards to a master's project that I was working on at the time in 2003. I myself wanted to learn how to speak Cree in a safe, loving, patient environment. And I was also searching for the question, what does it mean to speak from a Cree worldview, from a Nihawak worldview? And so I created this language acquisitioning camp. I invited others to come and learn with me to really focus on hearing the language, practicing to speak the language. And this is how it evolved to what it is now, which is week-long. I have other teachers that I work with that specialize in various language methodologies, language acquisitioning techniques. By no means 13 years ago was it what it is now. So it's almost like a boot camp, right? But it's to learn how to reclaim language, learning how to speak with confidence, practicing pronunciation, and you're going through a series of drills. You're really embodying the language. So that's what it is now. Reclaiming language in regards to success and challenges and trials and tribulations. So I've been really thinking about this a lot since I was first asked to come and question or come and ask about this camp. I believe the driving success of this camp is that there is a collective of us, grassroots, Indigenous, Nihiawok teachers who have passion for who we are as Indigenous people, Nihiawok people. So I would use that as one of the indicators what you need to have to make your camp successful, right? So you need to have like-minded people, people who are passionate about the language, people who are patient, and people who know how language development works. How does second language development work? Although it's our first language, but how do we teach others how to speak it? How do you scaffold people's learning? Teacher training is really, really important. Again, that was one of my, I guess one of my challenges when I first started out, because at the time, my beginning teachers, we didn't have that type of methodology or that type of training. But after looking at research and looking at other language acquisition techniques, language theory, language development, it's definitely, we've made a lot of strides that way. So that would be a challenge, but it's also become one of the best features I think that we can offer as a language camp, award-winning teachers, language teachers, teachers who have theory and practice and experience. All of those would be successful indicators. Again, so some of the trials I guess that we've come to experiences that, so again, we're going back out onto the land. This is where we come from. Our language is rooted in the environment. It's rooted in the ecologies of where we come from. And so, going back to the outdoors, there's lots of things to consider when doing that, right? It's working with the weather. It's working with the people. It's having a mindset of coming together and living together for a whole week. How is that going to look? How are we going to eat together? What is the menu going to look like? Are we going to eat traditional foods? So all of those things you really have to think about. Also, the idea of safety, all kinds of safety measures. Do people swim? Do they know how to swim? Can we get into a canoe? Wild animals, wild bears, just safety of the environment of who's all camping there, et cetera. So all of those things you have to take into consideration. And I guess another deep, another underlying deep epistemological issue, too, that I've come to experiences. So we've been colonized, right? By Christianity. And so, initially, and this is what the focus of the camp is still on, traditional Nihiawak values, ways of knowing and ways of being. That's a very big emphasis. Because we've had a long history with Catholicism, Christianity. And so there may be some conflicting views there when we do practice speaking Cree or some of those kinds of issues. I guess when it comes up with prayer, I suppose. Even the language there. So we have to be clear on those kinds of ethical, deep issues when it comes to indigenous ways of knowing and being. And also, we always, because we're culture bound, right? Because we have to adhere to our Nihiaw protocols and guidelines. Even the idea of storytelling. What kind of stories are we going to tell in the summertime? Which is very different in the wintertime. So all of those things have to be taken into consideration. And also, I've also learned along the way, how are we going to do this in a good way? How can I lead this in a good way? So again, it takes all that footwork, background work, going out and offering tobacco, going out to the location, talking to the people at those locations. Because this is a camp that moves around. It's a sketch one, right? Who are your resource knowledge keepers? So all of that has evolved over the 13 years. So there's lots of work. This camp has always been in the last full week of July. So this has been going on for a long time. And so people know when the camp is going to take place. And I've currently put that in people's consciousness. Just like, you know, powwow. So you know which powwow is going to be when and what time of the year, right? So this is what I was trying to get into the people. This language camp is always in the last full week of July. It's for one week. We usually start setting up on a Sunday and we'll leave on a Friday. So this week or this summer, 2018, it's going to be for the full seven days, right? From a Sunday to a Saturday. And last year was one of our largest camps ever. We had 26 participants, 16 adults and 10 children. So we did have a children's language camp set up and an adult language camp set up. And things were happening at the same time. So I'm usually directing or coordinating. Making sure everything is moving like clockwork. Because language needs to be vigorous. It needs to be entertaining. There needs to be a lot of movement because it's experiential. So I'm just making sure everything is going that way, right? Yeah, and again, it's for all ages. I get a lot of families that come. We start registering in April. Right now we actually have about a dozen people on the waiting list for 2018. That did not get in last year. So that took a long time for us to get here. To get at this point. I think this language camp has been pretty popular. We get a lot of exposure. I myself am a scholar in regards to language revitalization. So I'm always writing about the practices. And again, when it comes to practices, we usually have a survey at the end of the camp to figure out what we need to work on. And so this is how we're measuring success. How are the people impacted? How has it changed their lives? How have they been able to heal from the language work that they actually do at the language camps? So I get to hear that afterwards. So initially, I had my own website. And so I would just promote it through the web. I used newspapers, our local newspaper. Eagle Feather News, I initially started using that newspaper. I would phone the local Indigenous radio station down on the ranch. And you know, social media, Facebook. That's how I initially did it. And then so now the evolution of the camp is I'm always working with a nonprofit organization. And so they'll be the ones that do all the email, the emails. They're the ones that set it up on their website. They're the ones that will do some of the advertising. Just this year, I've actually purchased t-shirts. So there's four different types of t-shirts out right now that promote the language class. So this is how we advertise. Non-profit organization. Last year, my partner was Reed Saskatoon. Together, we did a tremendous job. They expressed interest wanting to do it again this summer. So if people are interested, they found Reed Saskatoon. ReedSaskatoon.ca, I believe. You can either register online with them or call them. So that's the application process now. It's first come, first served. And again, it doesn't take long to fill up. So depending on the number of teachers that we have, we'll depend on the number of participants. I like a high number of speakers who are fluent Cree teachers to work. The ratio has to be somewhat higher than the participants to really make an impact on people's learning. So yeah, that's basically how we advertise. I also have my own Facebook page, too. The New York Summer Language Experience on my own page of Belinda Daniels. So lots of people will see our pictures, see our activities. Last year, too, I got the opportunity to tweet with indigenousx.ca. They have something like 10,000 followers. So I got to tweet every day and do little videos of what we did every day. So yeah, social media has been really our friend in this regard. We do get people to come out who do actually come out now and do videos, do stories on the camp. So we have a lot of those online. I do have past surveys that I can share. And I've also written the process, too. I guess for the most part, it's the people themselves that have to define their own life learning. So from my own perspective, I can't speak for all indigenous peoples, but for me as an Ehio, when it comes to learning, it's definitely ways of knowing, ways of being, having exposure and practice to those methodologies, to those experiences. And land is a big deal. So land and language, they work together in creating the Ehio identity. So for me, that is our education. This is what our ancestors wanted. This is what our treaties were about. Our education system was never to be like this in a classroom, four walls, rows. It was to continue with our ways of living, speaking the language, adhering to our kinship systems, knowing what our natural laws were. It was all of that. Learning how to be stewards of the land, practicing land-based practices, taking care of the land. So all of that is what I believe is Ehio education, Ehio ways of knowing and being, indigenous education. Yeah, that would be my answer. So my vision for indigenous education in the future, it would be about what I just mentioned. It would be having the choice to be out learning on the land and with the land. It would be being surrounded by all of our relations, understanding those connections, being taught by our knowledge keepers, having exposure to language, learning how to speak our languages, and becoming whole and complete indigenous students who have high regard of their indigenous identity that walk around with that pride and self-esteem of who they are and where they come from. To me, that's what indigenous education is. Students can identify their territories, aspects of their land, can identify the significance of plants and trees and waters and aspects of the lake. Animal hunting, all of that is my vision for indigenous education. And having our own autonomy, our own control of indigenous education. This is where the National Brotherhood, one of their founding principles, indigenous control of indigenous education. Let's continue with that wish, that warrior's wish. My friend Stan Wilson mentioned that the other day. To me, yeah, that's what indigenous education is. I'm not doing anything new. I'm just remembering the practices of our ancestors and remembering the practices of my great grandparents and my grandparents. And at the same time, I'm decolonizing education, what was said and mentioned in our treaties. So I'm remembering that. And it is so important. Because right now, I can say this as an educator, an indigenous Nehio educator. Graduation rates in the mainstream setting aren't doing our people any justice. We're not graduating. Our indigenous youth are not graduating at the same level as non-indigenous peoples. And I've mentioned this before in regards to mainstream education. We can have a new strategy or a new practice. But what if the system's broken? Because of the legacy of residential schools, right? Because of this legacy of being made to read and write English or read and write French. That deep historical trauma of ripping our identity into two, we're still healing from that. And mainstream education, it's not the solution. So again, I'm just remembering, how did my great grandparents learn? What did they do? And it's not even that long ago. Me as a child, yeah, I learned to love and appreciate and give gratitude to my home territories, to my community, to the land that I grew up on. That was the best education ever. We had a lake in the backyard. We had a hill in front of our house. So being outdoors, that was our nourishment. It still is. So this is why it's important for the future. Land can teach us about who we are and where we come from.