Elder proves its never too late to learn or to teach

When Louise Fraser shared her story, Darlene Brander said it brought tears to her eyes.

“She has an inspirational story that I think many people in the community and greater public want to hear more of,” said Brander, President of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC). “When she shares her story of resilience – it’s not just a one or two decade journey, it’s a journey over a lifetime.”

Elder Louise Fraser, member of Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, was one of the keynote speakers at the 2025 SICC Language Keepers Gathering in Saskatoon.

The 87-year-old is the embodiment of life-long learner.  Although she possesses numerous degrees, diplomas, and certifications, retirement is not on her mind. Fraser is determined to regain everything residential schools tried to erase from her like her culture and language.

“People have come up to me and congratulated me on my story and achievements,” she said.  “A few told me they were inspired by my story, and one person said they would go back to school after hearing my story.”

Fraser grew up as a fluent Cree speaker, but was taken to residential school in Manitoba when she was only 7 years old. Forbidden to speak her language or practice her culture for years, residential school succeeded at taking the Indian out of the child – temporally, said Fraser.

“I almost lost my identity. There was a lot of putting down of my people, which made me feel that I didn’t want to be an Indian anymore,” she said. “Even after leaving residential school, I didn’t go back (to speaking Cree).”

While studying social work at First Nations University of Canada (then the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College), Fraser began to reconnect and learn about her culture. She started taking Cree classes – slowly re-acquainting herself with the language long buried in her.

“I think language is part of who we are, part of our identity,” said Fraser. “So as an Indigenous person, it’s important to have all the parts together – the language, the culture, the identity. It’s important to be a whole person.”

From there, things snowballed with Fraser, and throughout her education, her jobs, and her life, continued to take classes and learn her language.

This spring, Fraser graduated from the University of Saskatchewan’s Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP), with dreams of becoming a Cree language teacher. Fraser is the oldest graduate in the history of the ITEP program.

“Now I’m looking for a job!” said Fraser.

“Doing these things are not as hard as they seem.” she said. “If you want to achieve something, it’s there for you to work on. You just need to not give up. Persevere. I had to do lots of self-talk to make sure I didn’t give up.”

First-hand stories like these are a big part of what has made SICC’s Language Keepers Gathering so success, said Brander.

“Part of the goal is to inspire, to celebrate, to gather all language champions, advocates, and speakers to really take the language forward,” said Brander.

This year’s conference, from November 4-5, brought out more than 500 attendees to learn, discuss, and advance Cree, Swampy Cree, Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Dene, and Saulteaux.

“People come out of this empowered and ready to carry on activities for language revitalization – be it taking classes, one on one discussions, going to ceremonies, talking to Elders or young people, or going on social media and looking at their favourite language influencers,” said Brander.

Brander herself has recently embarked on the early stages of her own language journey – one she already feels has been rewarding.

“It makes ceremony deeper for me,” said Brander. “A lot of ceremony is in that language, so the more you know the language, the deeper and more meaningful it becomes.”