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Kiya Bruno recently recorded a performance of O'Canada in Cree and English to be used for the NHL Playoffs. (Supplied)
HONOURING HER HERITAGE

Maskwacis teen singer takes centre stage in NHL’s Edmonton bubble

Sep 4, 2020 | 11:22 AM

For 14-year-old Kiya Bruno and her family, Tuesday night was another special one.

A recorded rendition of O’Canada sung by Bruno in Cree and English was played prior to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs match-up between the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights.

The league has gone without in-person anthem singers at their playoff bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto due to COVID-19 measures that are in place.

Bruno, who is from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, performed the same rendition of O’Canada for the Toronto Blue Jays on National Indigenous Peoples Day in June 2019, and for the Edmonton Oilers last February on Hockey Day in Canada.

“It was pretty cool to see myself on TV and representing Indigenous people. It’s important to preserve and revitalize our language, and for me I like to learn my language through music,” shares Bruno. “It is important to do so because as we go on in the years, younger kids aren’t learning the language like they used to. We need to carry it and other cultural things on as well.”

An Oilers fan and hockey player herself, Bruno says she’s a fan of Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear, who is also Cree. She says many kids look up to him and that it’s great to see him representing Indigenous people in a positive way.

“I thought it was incredible. I’m a teacher, so seeing her share a piece of our language on national television is really inspiring,” says Bruno’s mother, Barbara Dumigan-Jackson, who believes her daughter is also serving as a role model to younger kids.

“There aren’t many fluent or even partial Cree speakers. It’s nice to let people hear a different rendition and I love how Kiya does it in both Cree and English.”

Dumigan-Jackson says it’s important Cree becomes more accessible in schools throughout Alberta, not just those which are Indigenous-based. Bruno is currently taking a three-year Cree learning program at her high school in Wetaskiwin.

She also notes the impact of historical events as driving factors behind why there are so few people who speak the language fluently.

“It would be good for non-Indigenous people to recognize a little bit more that it should be our first language, but Cree is our second language because of residential schools and the 60s Scoop,” Dumigan-Jackson explains. “There are so many different things that have prevented us from preserving our language and passing it on from generation to generation.”

(RD News Now)