(Ottawa, ON) – May 31, 2023 – The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is pleased to announce the release of our final episode of the season with Elder Verna Kirkness. Elder Verna Kirkness is from the Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba. She is a Cree scholar and language advocate who has left an incredible legacy and body of work relating to Indigenous education policy and the importance of Indigenous language reclamation efforts both in Canada and around the globe.

Elder Verna shares of her early years teaching at the Norway House Indian Residential School. The strict English language policy made it so that students were fearful to be caught speaking their own language. Never adhering to this policy and upon hearing students speaking Cree, Verna approached not to scold, but to converse with them in Cree. Later on in her career, Verna became the Curriculum Consultant on Cross-Cultural Affairs with the Department of Education in Winnipeg. She began developing the Manitoba Native Bilingual Program for teaching children in their native languages from Kindergarten to Grade 3 in a handful of Manitoba schools. She shares how parents were not easy to convince of this method, because of their own experience in the Residential School System. Elder Verna shares that one of the big takeaways of this program was the positive self-image reported of children learning in their native language. Elder Verna Kirkness has endless insight and her work in education has been a public service of the highest order. Of her experience working in policy and implementation, she shares: “Whenever Indian Affairs wanted to do things on languages, they always wanted a study. And a study took all the money, a task force. And then by the time it was all done, nothing happened… It just broke my heart to see it happening over and over again.” This interview is an important reminder of what came before and of the efforts to support language revitalization that have always been there, in spite of the political will and forces of the times.

Voices from the Land is an Indigenous Languages Revitalization Project funded by Canadian Heritage. Over the course of the winter months of 2022, host Gordon Spence spoke with Indigenous language teachers, adult learners and parents and caretakers of children learning their Indigenous language. From Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe); to Nehiyaw (Cree); the Michif language; Kanien’kéha (Mohawk); Onʌyoteˀa·ká (Oneida); and Dȁn k’e (Southern Tutchone), language learners, teachers and parents across Turtle Island share their insights and experiences. The goal of these 21 interviews was to gain a sense of the barriers and successes to learning one’s own language. We invite you to hear their voices and learn from their truth, as the languages have taught them so much.

The LHF is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 22 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and impacts on 7 generations of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) children, their families and communities from attending Residential and Day Schools and the subsequent Sixties Scoop. By fostering empathy and understanding, LHF encourages people to address discrimination and injustice and contributes to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples.

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 curricula for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops and Training, and Podcasts all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Sixties Scoop, etc. in order to offer solutions on how to be an ally. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding so as to eliminate racism against Indigenous Peoples. 

For media inquiries:
Teresa Edwards, B.A. JD.
Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel
Legacy of Hope Foundation
Phone: 613-237-4806 Ext. 303 info@legacyofhope.ca