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About the Symposium Speakers

                                tānisi kahkithaw kīthawāw nitōtīmak. nimithwīthihtīn iyatoskātamānnīhithowīwin  mīna nīhithaw pimācihowin. nohkomipan, nimosōmipan mīna ninīkihikwak kā-kī-āsōnamawicik nipīkiskwīwin.

Minnie McKenzie is a member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band and works for Lac La Ronge Indian Band Education on Curriculum Development.  She is a strong language advocate for nīhithowīwin Cree and a strong supporter for the survival and revival of First Nation and Metis Language and Culture.  Minnie was born and raised in Northern Saskatchewan.  She graduated with a teaching degree from University of Saskatchewan in 1993 and has worked as a Cree language teacher, Cree curriculum developer, Cree language and culture consultant and is currently the site coordinator/curriculum developer for the Gift of Language and Culture Project.  Minnie has taught language and culture classes to students in pre-school to grade six students.  She has done numerous workshops in language teaching for middle years and high school students, post-secondary students, teachers, administrators and community members.  One of her main goals in life is to see graduates from grade 12 fluent in Cree and having the ability to read and write Standard Roman Orthography and Syllabics.  Minnie is currently working on her Masters of Education.  Her action research is on the revival and maintenance of First Nation Language and Culture.  The method that is very popular right now in Northern Saskatchewan is ASLA (accelerated second language acquisition), amongst other teaching resources developed by the team of twelve people.  ASLA was introduced to the curriculum team by Dr. Stephen Greymorning in 2004.  In the workshop session, Minnie will share the success stories of the curriculum project and the pilot projects in the schools she works with.

Michael Redman a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in the central portion of Wyoming, he is a special education teacher/Arapahoe Language teacher. He strongly supports his involvement as a teacher of our youth’s education and efforts to revitalizing the Arapahoe Language/culture. He graduated with a special education degree at the University of Utah in 2005. He is always reminded daily of who he is through his father’s (Vincent Redman) spiritual teachings, also he looks up to his elders for guidance/strength. He is deeply passionate to saving the Arapahoe Language and instilling this knowledge/blessing into our youth because it is our younger generation who is going to save the Northern Arapahoe Language.

Iva Redman a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.  She graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Utah under the AITTP program.  She taught Middle School math and now currently teaching Arapaho Language and developing and teaching the language for K-8^th at Arapahoe School. Iva works with an elder and fluent speaker of the tribe as she trains the elder to teach in a classroom setting.  This new program uses the ASLA that Dr. Steve Greymorning introduced and trained members of our tribe to use in our language classrooms.  Currently the school has around 300 students and the language program serves all students enrolled.  Largest class is 30 students, smallest class 4 each grade is seen everyday and is often combined with other grades as well. 

 The Keynote Speaker

Nailima Gaison comes from the island of Hawaii where he was born. He was raised on island of O'ahu and then returned home to continue his educational career. Nailima has worked in the Hawaiian immersion school system for the past 22 years, 19 years at Punana Leo O Hilo Immersion Preschool and 3 years at Nawahiokalani'opu'u Immersion School. Currently he is teaching Pre/Kindergarten at Nawahiokalani'opu'u, which emphasizes literacy. For the past 20 years he has lectured at Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikolani, College of Hawaiian Language at University of Hawaii, Hilo teaching language, music, and Hawaiian Studies, while also helping to develop Hawaiian educational curriculum. Even though he has had considerable experience working with Indigenous peoples from the Polynesian region to the Northern Provinces of Canada, as well as American Indians within the United States, he has not hesitated to expressed how honored feels to be a part of the Giving the Gift of  Language Symposium.  

About the Teacher Training for Language Instruction and Acquisition

The teacher-training workshop will guide language instructors through a method called Accelerated Second Language Acquisition©™. This method has broad application as a tool for language instruction across diverse languages and age groups, which will be illustrated with video footage of work with children and adult college classes, as well as live demonstrations. Dr. Greymorning developed this approach to specifically bring second language learners to a level of language competency while accommodating language instructors working with limited resources and time. By the end of the three-day training session participants will have developed a full year of language instructional materials structured toward creating second language speakers. The training workshop is not magical, it is based on a fully developed systematic approach.  Participants should come with the understanding that the three-day teacher training sessions will be work intensive, but also rewarding. The workshop will be most effective if participants are fluent speakers or have fluent speakers with them. If possible, participants should bring a lap top computer as there will be a lot to write.