09/30/2026
On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation we honour the resiliency of our family members, communities, and special people we hold dear.
People, like our Elder Advisor, Carol Estralshenen. She, like many, from English River First Nation were forced to attend the Beauval Indian Residential School. It first began operating in 1897 and was taken over by the First Nations in the area in the 1980s.
Carol spoke only Dené until she started at the school at the age of five-and-a half. Determined to be able to communicate with her father, she did her best to hold onto her first language. She went on to be inspired by a teaching shared by the late Senator Frank McIntyre who encourage people to share and spread their Indigenous languages.
Carol continues to share the Dené language today, visiting school classrooms, teaching online courses, and generously offering her knowledge and time with us and so many others.
