Indigenous Intern at Canada’s University of Alberta (UofA) Library, Kaia MacLeod created a 3D printed syllabics kit arranged in a traditional star chart format to help Indigenous language learners connect with the Cree culture. The 23-year-old graduate student and president of the Library and Information Studies Students’ Association (LISSA) was eager to use her role to help make the library a more welcoming space for Indigenous people. Knowing the UofA offers Cree language classes and is home to the Canadian Indigenous Language Learning and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI), she decided to 3D print a set of Cree syllabics for the library.
In Alberta, and across Canada, the operation of residential schools resulted in the devastation of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit languages and cultures, like the…
