Kristen Healy

Oki, hello! My name is Kristen Healy, Sakoi sapissto (Last Owl). I am from the Kainai Nation also known as the Blood Reserve. I have been given the opportunity to be able to help and assist with working on the editing and clipping of the audio recordings that had been collected by the many Blackfoot speakers and dialects for the Linguistics Atlas and also for the Blackfoot digital dictionary. I am currently in my fourth year studying Business Management and in General Management program at the University of Lethbridge. I am also a mother of three beautiful children, Kadin, Trista, & Kantrell, and a wife to my husband, Kyle Shade.

I first took an interest in helping with this project when I was taking an Endangered Languages course. Having been enrolled in this course, it had really opened my eyes and gave me a bigger perspective on how I could help my people revitalize our Blackfoot language with this educational tool. The Blackfoot language is currently classified as a stage seven endangered language: it is almost extinct. With the help of our people and other implements, such as the Linguistic Atlas or the Blackfoot digital dictionary, I have hope that we will be able to preserve the Blackfoot language for many generations to come.