Alumni
Remembering Recent Ceremonies
- To view the program book for a convocation ceremony (which lists the names of all graduates), see the Program Book Archive.
- Ceremony video: June 11, 2026
- Ceremony video: October 9, 2025
- Ceremony video: June 12, 2025
- Ceremony video: October 10, 2024
- Ceremony video: June 11, 2024
2026 Graduates
Family of four celebrates their graduation from SFU Indigenous Languages Program
June 16, 2026. “We are incredibly proud of what can be achieved through family support, commitment, and working toward goals together. This certificate program became a true family success story for us. Together, my husband, our two teenage daughters and I all worked hard and successfully completed the certificate as a family. Our daughters began the program at ages 14 and 17, completing it at 15 and 18.”
Committing to Indigenous language revitalization: Qwuy’um’aat Elliott shares her story
June 15, 2026. “My name is Qwuy’um’aat (Eyvette) Elliott. I am a proud member of the Cowichan Tribes. I am graduating with a Certificate in Indigenous Language Proficiency, focusing on Hul’q’umi’num. I felt a strong pull to deepen my connection to learn my language for myself, my children, my family and the generations that come after us.”
2025 Graduates
Kaitlyn Cunningham awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy and Reconciliation
June 11, 2025. Since she was five years old, Kaitlyn Cunningham has been learning hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, one of the three dialects of the Halkomelem language. When Cunningham turned 17, she began volunteering to teach hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ to youth in the community alongside her sister Leah Meunier. A significant component of Cunningham’s language revitalization efforts is the founding of the xʷəlməxʷqən Cultural Society (XWCS), founded in 2022. In recognition of her lifelong dedication to Indigenous language revitalization, Cunningham is being awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal.
Jasḵwaan Bedard: In her own words
Dr. Bedard defended her PhD thesis on April 3rd, 2025. On June 12th, her doctoral degree was conferred at the convocation ceremony. “I have aligned my PhD research with the many roles I have filled in my community to strengthen our dialect of X̱aad Kil, the Old Massett dialect of the Haida language. My research uses a Haida Research Framework based on Haida Laws and protocols to guide a pathway for X̱aad Kil immersion. My work has allowed me to apply my research in how to best serve our community language needs in real time.”
2024 Graduates
Lauren Schneider joins INLP faculty
Dr. Lauren Schneider graduated from SFU with a PhD at the October 2024 convocation ceremony. Lauren's work focuses on research in Hul’q’umi’num’, including description, analysis, and reclamation. Her thesis is titled Serial verb constructions in Hul'q'umi'num' Salish. Lauren is joining the Indigenous Languages Program as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2025.
2023 Graduates
Lifelong Indigenous language advocate dedicates degree to Tlingit heritage
As 79-year-old Kèyishí Bessie Cooley presented her master's degree thesis project at the Yukon Native Language Centre in Whitehorse—interweaving English and Tlingit as she spoke—it marked another milestone in what is already an extraordinarily accomplished life.
Read the story: Kèyishí Bessie Cooley, 2023 Master's graduate
2022 Graduates
MA Project - Victoria Mckoy
"Conversational Shmˈalgyack (Sm’algyax) Audio Glossary"
BA - Danielle Ignace, Minor in Indigenous Languages; Sociology; and Certificate in Indigenous Language Proficiency
2021 Graduates
- Donna M. Modeste is the first recipient of the new Minor in Indigenous Languages in her BA degree.
MA Project - Luke Marston
"Xu’athun stl’q’een’: Hwulmuhw perspectives on art and language"
MA Project - Evangeline Guerin
"tsetsul'ulhtun' mustimuhw: Hul'q'umi'num' stories from our fishing life"
MA Project - Tara Morris (Thorne)
"Suwsiw: Hul'q'umi'num' stories of land and sea"
MA Project - Marlene Tommy
"Connecting generations through hwulmuhwqun stories"
BA - Donna M. Modeste
Double Minor in Indigenous Languages and Extended Minor in Linguistics (Spring 2021)
2020 Graduates
MA Project - Gina Salazar
"Angry Raven and friends: Three new stories for Hul'q'umi'num' language learners."
MA Project - Victor Guerin (August 26, 2020)
"xu’athun stl’q’een’: hwulmuhw perspectives on art and language"
MA Thesis Defence - Rae Anne Baker Claxton (August 20, 2020)
"lhwet ’a’lu kw’u xwi’em’? hwi’ ’een’thu tse’!: How I learned to tell and perform a Hul’q’umi’num’ story"
MA Thesis Defence - Zack Gilkison "How What Was Said Was Said: Quotation in Hul’q’umi’num’ Narrative Performance"
BA - Julienne Ignace
Major in Linguistics, Diploma in Linguistics, and Diploma in Indigenous Languages (Secwepemctsin Language Cohort)
2019 Graduates
Elder Ruby Peter, 2019 Honorary Doctorate
Coast Salish Elder and linguist Ruby Peter given SFU honorary degree: Read the article.
MA Project - Regena Seward-Wilson
"ni’ q’ushintul’ ’u tunu shhw’alukw’a’ | Traveling with my family: Growing and learning in the Hul’q’umi’num’ language"
MA Project - Ivy Seward
"Wind from the North: Hul’q’umi’num’ speakers in Saanich."