Oki! My name is Dominik Kadlec, and I graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics, and a minor in anthropology. I have always had an interest in languages, and have never been discriminatory about which ones I found interesting. I have had the opportunity to study many languages including Spanish, French, Czech, Arabic, Lakota, Cree and Blackfoot (although, I am not fluent in all of them.) Language documentation and computational linguistics were always the most fascinating sub-fields to me, so I was very happy when I was given the chance to be part of the Blackfoot dictionary team.

While I was completing my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to work for YMCA Calgary’s Indigenous department, where I worked as a youth coordinator with my work partner Jimmy-Lou Williams. Through that experience, I was able to meet many great people, including Indigenous elders and community members in and around the Calgary area, who taught me many things about Indigenous history and culture.

Currently, I am a Master’s student working as a researcher and research assistant to Dr. Inge Genee and the Blackfoot resource team, helping to develop computational revitalization and documentation resources. This project is close to my heart as, only a generation ago, my family spoke French-Michif and Czech but those languages have since been lost in my family due to colonial attitudes. I am honoured to be working with the Blackfoot community and helping them reclaim and revitalize their language, as I one day hope to do so with mine.