Knowledge Keeper and Cree Language Advocate ,

Ira Horse is originally from Sweetgrass First Nation but has spent the past almost 30 years in Thunderchild First Nation. She never claimed to be a fluent Cree speaker, but always spoke Cree. When she married Maxwell Horse, a fluent Cree speaker, it inspired her to better herself with the language. When Ira and Maxwell finished raising their children, they were provided with a second chance at parenting when Davis, their grandson, was born. Maxwell and Ira taught Davis the language right from the moss bag. They refer to their home as a Cree only zone. Ira became well known after doing a presentation at a language keepers’ conference and when the media interviewed her she stated, “Our language is not lost, nor dead. It was sleeping and we need to wake it up.”