Episode 10: Vincent Ahenakew - The Story of Northern Michif

On this final episode of Paykiiwikay - Season 1, we travel to the thriving Metis community of Ile-a-la-Crosse, the heartland of the Northern Michif dialect, to meet with the man who has arguably done more than any other to revitalize Northern Michif as a living language. This year Vincent Ahenakew is retiring as the Principal of the Rossignol High School where, for decades, he spearheaded efforts to bring Michif into the school curriculum. He was so successful, that having passed a course in Michif is now a requirement to graduate, and Michif can be heard in the hallways, classrooms and read in text-books, many of which Ahenakew translated himself. He also literally wrote the book on Northern Michif, as the creator of the Michif/Cree Dictionary: Nêhiyawêwin Masinahiķan, published with the Gabriel Dumont Institute. You can also hear his voice on the “Northern Michif To Go” language App that he helped develop. We hope you enjoy this episode with one of the great Metis educators.

Host Leah Dorion and producer David McGuffin would like to thank their colleagues at the Metis Nation Saskatchewan and Canadian Geographic for making this season possible. And they also want to thank our guests for their wonderful telling of the story of the Metis people, and to you, our listeners, for making this podcast a success. It is now a featured series on Apple Podcasts Indigenous Voices category.

Mína ka wapamitin! See you in Season 2!