(Ottawa, ON) November 25, 2021 – On this week’s episode of Roots and Hoots, host Gordon Spence is pleased to be joined by Indigenous educator and Cree scholar Verna J. Kirkness. Verna is a distinguished educator whose passion for teaching has led to her many accolades and publications. Verna has written nine books, including her most recent biography Creating Space: My Life and Work in Indigenous Education. Verna is the recipient of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba, though her most esteemed honours have been the many eagle feathers she has received. During their conversation, Verna and Gordon discuss Verna’s career, her proudest accomplishments, and most earnest wishes for the revitalization of Indigenous languages.

Verna J. Kirkness is a Cree scholar from the Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba. Verna always knew that she wanted to become a teacher, but as a young girl, never told anyone as she had never seen any Cree teachers and did not think it possible. She was to become her own role model, as well as to be one for countless others in the years to come. Verna always loved school and as a child she was eager to learn. Growing up as a non-status person, this meant that Verna did not have to go to Residential School. Instead, she went to a school in Teulon, Manitoba and it is here where she first encountered non-Indigenous Peoples. Verna always wanted to return home, to teach her own people. In 1959, with a couple years of teaching under her belt, Verna was determined to teach in a Residential School. She wanted to know first-hand the experience of being at a Residential School and taught at the Birtle Indian Residential School as well as at the Norway House Indian Residential School.

Verna never adhered to the directive of prohibiting the speaking of Indigenous languages in the Residential Schools. In fact, students would come to her classroom because they knew they could speak Cree there. Verna has always understood the importance of revitalizing Indigenous languages and her work entitled Aboriginal Languages: A Collection of Talks and Papers, speaks to the efforts that have been made by many to revive the languages, including her numerous trips to visit the Māori people of New Zealand, as they had success in reviving their language. Verna speaks of Reconciliation as a two-way street that must above all involve respect, relevancy, reciprocity, and responsibility. Of all the lessons taught, there are still more to learn, and Verna’s passion for Indigenous education shows that she was meant to become an example of excellence for all.

The LHF is a national, indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 21 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems and subsequent Sixties Scoop on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote hope and healing in Canada. The LHF works to encourage people to address discrimination and injustice in order to contribute to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation.

The LHF has more than 25 educational exhibitions that promote awareness of Indigenous history that are free to borrow and is working on making exhibitions available online. LHF also has curriculum for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops and Training, podcasts, all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Sixties Scoop, etc. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding so as to eliminate racism against Indigenous Peoples.