Knowledge Keepers

Starlett (Star) Beardy is from the Pimicikamāk Cree Nation (Cross Lake), located in northern Manitoba, and is a fluent Ininīmōwin (Cree) speaker. Star attributes her fluency to the immersion she was exposed to throughout her life through family, community and language learning. This ignited a passion both for the language and for teaching it. Star learned how to read and write in Ininímowin throughout middle and high school, primarily through her Cree language teachers. For Star, Indigenous languages are vital because language shapes identity and informs and maintains our history; our languages carry spirit and hold many cultural teachings and protocols.

Star is a passionate advocate for Indigenous languages, making  Ininímowin visible in written and spoken word and creating safe spaces for Indigenous languages to exist. She believes that promoting Indigenous language learning requires access to language speakers and language advocates, as well as access to language/ knowledge keepers and Elders in schools. Star emphasizes that a commitment to inclusivity, openness, community and relationship building, in spaces where Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples gather, is critical to language revitalization.