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Indigenous Education

Dr. Belinda kakiyosēw Daniels

A portrait of Belinda

Assistant Professor

Department of Indigenous Education

Contact:
Office: MAC A261 250-721-7550
Area(s) of expertise:
Indigenous Language Revitalization, Indigenous education, Indigenous pedagogy, Immersion camps, land-based education, Indigenous language decolonial assessment and proficiency, Indigenous methodologies, applied linguistics, additional language methods

Biography

tānsi ātawiya kahkiyaw, kitatamiskātināwāw. kakiyosēw - Dr. Belinda Daniels nitisihkāson, pakitahow sākahikan Sturgeon Lake First Nation, SK, Treaty Six Territory ohci niya, māka mitoni kinwes sāskitōminihk nikī-pē-wīkin.

My nēhiyaw name comes from my uncle Dr. Joseph Naytowhow, he gifted it to me when I began my reclamation journey, this too is an honor, to be given a name, which means she who is creative and industrious. I am a mother, grandmother, wife, sister, auntie and a language warrior and a dreamer. I am a long-time educator with 20+ years of classroom, curriculum development and land-based pedagogy. Most importantly, I am an additional language adult learner of nēhiyawēwin.  

I am the founder of the nēhiyawak Language Experience Inc. a not-for-profit organization in language reclamation that is rooted in community and family-grounded driven research and experience (22 years), I currently sit on the CCUNESCO board for two areas: Indigenous languages and land-based education. I am also on the board with the Canadian Modern Review Journal and the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (ACLA). In 2021, I completed my PhD dissertation on the topic of nēhiyawēwin reclamation and received numerous awards, such National Literacy Award (2024), Excellence in Research Award Emerging Scholar (UVic) 2024, and Lifetime Achievement Award with University of Saskatchewan Alumni (2023) to name a few, and an honorary portrait of myself by Kent Monkman entitled ‘Rising Stars’ Exhibit. 

Selected Publications

Refereed Journals

Daniels, B., Stone, A., & McIvor, O. (2025). Learning as nēhiyaw: Understanding language learning with the NEȾOLṈEW̱ assessment tool at the nēhiyawak Immersion Camp. Canadian Modern Language Review.  

Daniels, B., (2025). nēhiyawak Child Raising Practices and Lessons for Schools. Education Sciences, 15(8), 936.  

Daniels, B., & Sterzuk, A., Turner, P., Cook, B., thunder, D., & Morin, R. (2025). They Are Calling Us Home. Canadian Modern Language Review. Open access

Daniels, B., Ratt, T., Custer, A., Sterzuk., A, Griffith, M., & Fayant R. (2024). ē-pī-wīcihtāsowin ahpō ē-pī-wīcihisowin: non-Indigenous learners in Indigenous language learning spaces. Critical Language Studies

Daniels, B., & Sterzuk, A. (2022). Indigenous language revitalization and applied linguistics: Conceptualizing an ethical space of engagement between academic fields. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics. 25 91). 1-18. 

Refereed Book Chapters

Custer, A., Sterzuk, A., Daniels, B., Khanam, R., & Fayant, R. (2026). ni-nohtī-nihihtaw-masinahikan: Writing in Indigenous languages at Canadian universities (pp. 163–178). In J. N. Corcoran, C. Payant, S. Sarmento, L. Colombo, M. E. López-Gopar, L. Córdova-Hernández, & F. Patterson (Eds.), Plurilingual perspectives on scholarly writing for publication: Within, através y au-delà des frontières “nas Américas”. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado.  

Daniels, B., Sterzuk, A., Turner, P, Cook, B., Thunder, D., & Morin, R. (2022). Centering nēhiyawēwin language and Indigenous knowledge production – An ethics of southern research. In K. Heugh, C. Stroud, P. De Costa & K. Taylor-Leech (Eds.) A Sociolinguistics of the South. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Books, Chapters, & Monographs

Daniels, B., & Custer, A. (2022). nēhiyawẽtan kīkināhk – Speaking Cree in the Home, a beginner’s guide for families. University of Regina Press.

Other Publications

Belcourt, C. Daniels, B. & Morin, R. (2023) Let’s Speak Cree (for a while) mahti aciyaw nēhiyawētān. Gabriel Dumont Institute Press.

Daniels, B., Morin, R., Cook, W, Thunder, D., (2022). nēhiyawak Language Experience Camp Guide 2022 How to Start a Language Experience Camp: tānisi ka-isi mācipitamihk pīkiskwēwin waniskāpicikēwin. Public (pdf) publication

Research

PI, SSHRC Connection Grant - kiyokētan - Let's visit - Centering Indigenous Languages in Rethinking Multilingualism in Education: kiyokētan – let's visit (2023-2026)

CoPI, Uvic Aspirational Research Grant – Centre for Indigenous languages Revitalization Research (2023 -2026)

CoPI, SSHRC Connection Grant – Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (2024)