#cree language

Ahhh I have a story for you my friend! It's a little late in the season for storytelling, but there was snow on the ground where I live just yesterday, so we're gonna call it kiyâm! (good enough)

The constellation known as Ursa Major, or the great bear, is known as Mistamaskwa in my language, which means... the same thing. I guess we're all in agreement then that this thing is a big ass bear.

Anyways, long ago, before there were teepee creeping Crees or Blackfoots making fun of our flat butts, there was a Great Bear: Mistamaskwa.

Mistamaskwa was a great bully. He was bigger and stronger than all the other animals, and he used his massive strength to lord over them. Mistamaskwa terrorized the forest, clawing up edible plants, destroying homes, stealing food caches, and killing anyone who got in his way.

This went on for many moons... eeeee, just kidding.

This went on for many years, and despite the other creatures trying desperately to calm him Mistamaskwa wouldn't be stopped. The forest was terrified.

Finally, a small voice spoke up, and said "Something must be done!"

So, the animals called a meeting. Nearly all the creatures of the forest showed up, because nearly all of them were tired of living in fear of the Bear. It was decided that night, after story upon story of death and destruction, that Mistamaskwa had to go.

Mistamaskwa was cunning and powerful. The animals knew that only the swiftest and cleverest hunters stood a chance against him. And so they sent Chickadee, Blue Jay, Dove, Grey Jay (diversity!!), Saw-whet Owl, Great Horned Owl, and Robin.

The Seven Birds spent weeks tracking Mistamaskwa, all through the spring and summer. At the turn of autumn, they found him.

But Mistamaskwa knew they were coming.

The Ravens had not attended the meeting. They were satisfied to feast on the carcasses Mistamaskwa left behind, and paid no mind to the violence that had produced them.

When the Ravens heard about the hunters' plans, they flew immediately to warn Mistamaskwa.

And so the Seven Birds came to face an impossible enemy. Mistamaskwa met them snarling, and the hunters raised their weapons.

The coward turned and ran.

The Birds gave chase. The hunters chased the Bear along the horizon so fast that they all soared up into the sky. One by one the Birds fell tired, until Robin was left to pursue the Bear alone. Robin flew on.

Mistamaskwa turned to see how many hunters were left, and just as he did Robin fired their bow and shot an arrow right into the Great Bear's heart. Blood poured from the wound.

As he bled Mistamaskwa gave a great shake, then shuddered, and fell. Droplets of his blood fell to earth and tinged the leaves of the late summer trees with red.

One large drop landed square on Robin's breast, staining it crimson.

The hunters went home, and there was peace.

We see the Seven Birds in the constellation known as the Corona Borealis. We say that Robin was awarded the brightest star, to recognize their determination, and was gifted a special egg as a reward, blue and speckled like a starry sky.

To this day Robin has a red chest.

As far as my personal favourite birds, I love a good ole crow. I think they're the perfect symbol of Indigenous resilience. Maybe I'll eat garbage, but I'll survive!

Thanks for sending in your question, and thanks for sending me proof of your donation! I appreciate you, and I hope you appreciate this piece of my culture. I hope you think of this story every time you see a robin.

Two phone apps are helping spark Cree and Dene language revitalization in Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) First Nations.

Slated for release by the end of January, the apps are part of an MLTC initiative targeted at residents of Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) and Canoe Lake Cree First Nation. More versions of the app will be developed for local language variants in MLTC's remaining communities by June, a news release said.

"Something like this was needed in our communities," said Abby Janvier, who led the Dene project with residents of CRDN and La Loche.

The app teaches its users basic vocabulary tailored to their communities, Janvier said. Her community's app features words and phrases under 22 categories that include animals, clothing and common phrases.

A typical entry also includes a photo, an English version of the word or phrase and an audio pronunciation in Cree or Dene. Janvier said the recorded component helps to communicate unique sounds that aren't shared with English.

"Because our language is taught orally traditionally ... it's hard to teach it just with the written piece of it," she said.

The applications use LifeSpark App Builder — a tool that developer Kevin Waddell said has its origins in Cumberland House in the early 2000s. Waddell was working as a computer teacher at the time and noticed many students couldn't speak their language.

"That bothered me. I wanted to use my skills to help them learn their language again," he said.

Waddell developed the technology as a phone app that would allow other communities to use the tool for their own language needs.

The app is primarily geared toward Indigenous peoples, Waddell said, but has received interest from other groups in Africa and Australia looking to revitalize their languages. Roughly two decades since he began, Waddell said he's pleased to see his work reach students like the ones he worked with in Cumberland House.

Today I researched Cree, the most widely spoken indigenous language in Canada.

What is the language called in English and the language itself?

Cree is known as Cree or sometimes Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi in English. There are many Cree endonyms, including nêhiyawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ (Plains Cree), nīhithawīwin ᓃᐦᐃᖬᐑᐏᐣ (Woods Cree), and Nehirâmowin (Atikamekw). 

Where is the language spoken?  

Cree is mostly spoken in eastern and central Canada, with some speakers in Montana in the United States.

How many people speak the language? 

Around 96,000 people speak Cree as of 2016. I should mention that Cree is considered to be a “dialect continuum”—essentially, the differences between dialects are small enough that they can be considered the same language, but are also sometimes regarded as separate languages. The 96,000 figure includes speakers of the Montagnais-Naskapi and Atikamekw dialects. 

The Cree language has become far less widely spoken over the past centuries. Residential schools in Canada forbade students from speaking Cree, and over time, Cree people migrated away from reservations, which could separate them from other speakers. Some Cree people also stopped teaching their children the language in an attempt to avoid discrimination.

Which language family does it belong to? What are some of its relative languages?  

Cree belongs to the Algonquian language family, specifically the Central Algonquian subfamily. Other languages in this subfamily are Shawnee, which is very endangered, and Ojibwe. What writing system does the language use?     Most Cree dialects have historically used Cree syllabics, a type of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, but they can also be written with the Latin alphabet. 

What kind of grammatical features does the language have? 

Notably, Cree doesn’t have a standard word order—subject, verb, and object can vary in order. Its “gender” system divides nouns between animate and inanimate. 

What does the language sound like? 

Watch a Cree elder talk about the language! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFUQyidy46w

What do you personally find interesting about the language? 

I think it’s interesting that Cree uses its own alphabet as all the other indigenous languages I’ve researched so far have adopted the Latin alphabet. 

Resources to study Cree:

Online dictionary: https://www.creedictionary.com/ 

Basic Cree vocabulary with Latin alphabet: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/how-speak-cree 

Sources:

Cree Language

An app for learning Cree supported by the Government of Northwest Territories - Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

There are 25 useful daily categories with pictures and Cree spellings.