
Cree language teachers reflect on generations of learning
CBC
Darian Agecoutay never expected to find himself standing in front of a classroom teaching Cree.
He did not learn the language as a child — his family did not speak Cree, and the school he attended at Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan did not offer Cree classes until Grade 12.
But when Agecoutay enrolled at Saskatchewan's First Nations University in 2016, he was inspired to delve into his own language and culture.
"When I first started, my initial program advisor was picking my classes for me and she was saying 'oh, you could take French, you could take German, you could even take Japanese,'" he said.
"But I [said], 'why don't I just take my own language, Cree? It's right here.'"
And after that first class, Agecoutay said, "everything just started clicking."
"I started understanding the different concepts within language, and especially how our own language is so different from others, like English or French," he said.