(Ottawa, ON) – July 24, 2025 – In this week’s episode of Roots and Hoots, host Gordon is pleased to be joined by Nêhiyaw (Cree) lawyer, Anita Cardinal from the Woodland Cree First Nation on Treaty 8 Territory. Anita is an incredible woman, matriarch and ultramarathon runner. She and Gordon discuss Anita’s journey into the field of law and how her discipline of running helped get her where she is today – and how it fuels her next steps forward.

From a young age, Anita knew she wanted to become a lawyer. Inevitably, life took her on a journey, but Anita recalls meeting an Indigenous lawyer and how this helped remind her that her dream was still possible. In April 2022, Anita proudly earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, where she shone as President of the Indigenous Law Students Association, President of the National Indigenous Law Students Association for two terms, and the Student Representative for the Indigenous Bar Association.

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Anita talks about working as a paralegal on seminal class actions, including the Sixties Scoop and the Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women, with her mother as the Representative Plaintiff in the latter’s Alberta class action. Anita shares wise reflections from her mother, after attending a national gathering for the Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice.

Running is a practice that Anita has maintained throughout her life, noting that for her: “Running is medicine, running is ceremony, running is sacred”. Anita seeks to bring Indigenous runners together and she is the founder of Indigenous Runner YEG, where she organizes ultramarathon runs and weekly group runs through indigenousrunner.com. Anita is also the race director and organizer of Edmonton’s annual “Orange Shirt Day Run/Walk”, which is held on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. As the conversation winds down, Anita talks about the importance of action in the processes of truth and reconciliation, and how it’s all about taking tangible steps forward.

The LHF is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for over 25 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate Canadians about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems and subsequent Child Welfare System on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to address discrimination against Indigenous Peoples, and to promote hope and healing in Canada. The LHF works to encourage Canadians to address discrimination and injustice to contribute to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of all.

The LHF has more than 30 educational exhibitions that educate Canadians about Indigenous history and that are free to borrow. LHF also has curricula for K-12 and for adults, along with Activity Guides, Workshops and Training, and two Podcast series, all aimed at educating Canadians about Indigenous history and the shared history of Residential and Day Schools, the Child Welfare System, and other colonial acts of oppression. The LHF works to develop empathy and understanding to eliminate ongoing racism against Indigenous Peoples and to foster Reconciliation in Canada.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Teresa Edwards, B.A., LL.B / J.D.
Executive Director and In-House Legal Counsel
Legacy of Hope Foundation
tedwards@legacyofhope.ca