I want to be able to contribute back: Cree language keeper honoured with Sask. Order of Merit [Video]

“I was raised in my language… and then I learned English.”

Today, her teaching includes a weekly Sunday morning language session on Zoom, a YouTube channel with mini-lessons, and an app developed in partnership with Montreal Lake Cree Nation. A Facebook group she started a few years ago has grown to more than 1,500 members.

“I have a language session every Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. where me and my partner have been working together for the past couple of years,” she said.

Much of her digital knowledge, she says, is self-taught.

“I’m self-taught in technology… I’ve used multiple platforms,” she said.

Thunder recently launched wicihsok.com — a website that means “help yourselves” in Cree. It hosts audio recordings, teaching materials, and cultural resources that reflect her approach to language revitalization. All of the voiceovers, she said, feature the voice of her mother, Gladys Wapass-Greyeyes.

The website. (screenshot)

“That is the foundation of my work — to prepare resources and the audio …