The Gathering of the Cree Language forum, held in Gatineau November 26-27, brought together Cree education leaders and language researchers to explore how best to maintain and strengthen the mother tongue of Eeyou Istchee.
Jamie Moses, the Cree Nation’s first language commissioner, opened the forum by sharing his experience of learning Cree – by listening to his grandfather recount legends and stories each evening.
“Our Elders and their experience are valuable resources for the new generation,” Moses said.
Moses noted that the last survey on the status of Cree language was in 1989, and he worries that new data coming in 2025 will show diminished numbers of people who are fluent.
“We must act on the health of our language,” Moses insisted. At the same time, he believes the tone of the language discussion should change.
“At conferences and gatherings, we always talk about the number [of speakers] declining and blame the problem on our kids,” he said. “But we need to start suggesting ideas on how to overcome these challenges. We need to engage in partnerships and collaborate.”
Keynote speaker Lorna Williams, Professor Emeritus of Indigenous Education at the University of Victoria, is a Lil’wat of the St’at’yem’c First Nation at Mount Currie in British Columbia. Williams talked about her experience developing the first curriculum for teaching Ucwalmícwts, the language of her people.
Involved in community activities for 60 years, Williams was working on a dictionary for Ucwalmícwts when she understood something “so powerful and so beautiful.”
“I could see the beauty of the variations of our language, the predictability of the changes and the nuances,” she explained. “Rather than being fearful of this diversity, we could see that we don’t have to be afraid. Our people are comfortable with variations.”
Williams believes every language articulates the values, the philosophy and the relationships that define a people. But the pressure of colonial governments to separate Indigenous people from their languages and their knowledge remains powerful.
“The motivation has to be really thought through,” she told the Nation. “That is part of what the forum is about – to come up with inspiring ways to promote the language in the community and the family. People have to overcome a lot to keep their languages alive.”
To regenerate the use of a language, Williams suggests it is important to have a community plan. First, by assessing where members are with their language, and what they want from it.
“Those who come up with a long-term strategic plan need to be very aware of the position of their language within the framework of this colonized country – its relation to English and French.”
Williams underlines the role of residential schools in eradicating Indigenous culture. Because of that history, to revitalize a particular language it is necessary to use it in every part of family and community life. And “from the government side – they have work to do.”
“Indigenous languages get very little support from the federal government,” Williams said. “Not too many provinces support Indigenous languages, there needs to be an arm that really works on funding and securing resources.”
According to the First Peoples’ Cultural Council, she noted, the Cree language is comparatively strong and encouraged, and people are using it.
Cree School Board chairperson Sarah Pashagumskum said she believes Cree cultural and language programs are directly related to student success.
The CSB serves over 4,000 students in kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools, Pashagumskum noted, saying it is the Board’s responsibility to provide the cultural and language education that helps young people build their identity.
“This past year we implemented a new program in pre-kindergarten to improve proficiency in the Cree language,” she explained. “That program includes Elders in the classrooms, who work as mentors for teachers and as language supports for the students in early grades.”
For the Cree language to thrive, Pashagumskum says it is important to evaluate available resources and the clientele they can reach.
“That includes reaching out to community members, to parents, and the families of the students we serve to find out what we can do to support them in maintaining the Cree language within their homes,” she emphasized.
“For young people, it really is an important consideration. Students’ empowerment through focusing on identity is a success factor in the school, and those students are more likely to be successful if they have firm grounding in who they are, if they feel secure in their language and in their ability to use it.”