WEBVTT 00:00:09.843 --> 00:00:14.180 First of all, my name is Samson Petagumskum. 00:00:14.931 --> 00:00:24.399 I wanted to do this in order to talk about the traditional Cree way of using our language. 00:00:25.608 --> 00:00:33.700 I have a very good idea that our language is deteriorating rapidly and that people are no longer 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:41.458 using the the language in the way they should, here in Whapmagoostui. 00:00:43.501 --> 00:00:47.756 This is one reason why I agreed to talk about it. 00:00:49.382 --> 00:00:55.388 For instance, first of all, 00:00:55.388 --> 00:00:58.141 I would like to talk about the area where we live, here in Whapmagoostui. 00:00:59.642 --> 00:01:03.980 The river flows toward the western direction... 00:01:04.814 --> 00:01:07.734 Which side of the river is the community situated? 00:01:08.860 --> 00:01:18.203 It is on the northern side of the river, ‘aashtihtaakaam’ is the word that is used for the location of our town. 00:01:19.037 --> 00:01:27.295 Across the river, we call it ‘aukikaam’, meaning the southern side of the river. 00:01:29.214 --> 00:01:37.138 This word is used by all Crees, wherever they might be, 00:01:37.138 --> 00:01:43.686 not only here but everywhere when people talk about the location when on a river. 00:01:44.687 --> 00:01:55.782 Here we have the uppermost part of the land, ‘paachinaauhkaau’ is the word for the top rocky part. 00:01:56.950 --> 00:02:00.870 This is the word we should be using. 00:02:02.789 --> 00:02:11.172 When the land can be seen from the river, the word that is used is ‘aashtihtaayaauhch’, 00:02:13.466 --> 00:02:18.888 which tells us that the land we can see when we are on the river is south. 00:02:19.931 --> 00:02:22.058 This is the way we should say it, 00:02:22.058 --> 00:02:25.645 or when we talk about the northern side of the river, we would say ‘aukikaam’. 00:02:26.855 --> 00:02:34.237 When people are out on the land, they have names for all that is around them, 00:02:35.113 --> 00:02:48.084 the activities they do, they have words for all these things and the direction of places. 00:02:50.253 --> 00:02:57.302 The words I heard from the beginning, when I listened to people talking, 00:02:57.302 --> 00:03:02.432 all people from Whapmagoostui used the same words to talk about traditional territories and places. 00:03:02.932 --> 00:03:11.107 I will talk about the words used for high areas first, the words used include all high places. 00:03:11.566 --> 00:03:25.205 You know where all these mountains are located in the east and west, which includes the marshes, 00:03:26.748 --> 00:03:33.421 the words used include all these places when talking about the directions. 00:03:34.339 --> 00:03:37.800 ‘Aashtihtaakaam’, ‘aukikaam’, 00:03:38.426 --> 00:03:48.561 these words refer to the sun and where it shines in that area we are talking about. 00:03:48.561 --> 00:04:01.115 On the other side of a mountain where the sun does not shine is described as ‘aukitinaahch’ in Cree. 00:04:02.575 --> 00:04:05.411 When we talk about muskegs, 00:04:07.413 --> 00:04:11.960 ‘aashtihtaakaamaashtaach’ is the word we use 00:04:12.627 --> 00:04:19.259 when the muskeg is where the sunlight hits. 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:34.315 So for the opposite side, the word is ‘aukikaamaashtaach’, where the sun does not shine. 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:39.737 The root of these words can also be used when we talk about lakes, 00:04:39.737 --> 00:04:49.330 ‘aashtihtaakaamaayaatihch’ on the sunny side, the northern shore of the lake, 00:04:49.330 --> 00:05:00.091 and the opposite side of the lake is ‘aukikaamaashtaach’. 00:05:01.551 --> 00:05:07.348 It is the same for trees, ‘aukikaamaashtaach’ meaning the sun shines on this side of the tree, 00:05:07.348 --> 00:05:12.729 and for the direction of a muskeg, it is also included in this word, when we say ‘aukikaamaashtaach. 00:05:12.729 --> 00:05:17.108 When we talk about the direction of a body of water we also say ‘aukikaam’. 00:05:18.526 --> 00:05:27.910 This is how Cree people understand each other when talking about places and directions 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:33.833 and the people he is talking to, his family and friends, will know the exact place he is talking about. 00:05:35.126 --> 00:05:47.221 The way we talk today, not to offend anyone, 00:05:47.221 --> 00:05:57.148 but even the older people do not speak Cree fluently. 00:05:58.900 --> 00:06:09.035 I hear people say today, ‘kaa iihtaataakupin’ when they should be saying ‘kaa iitaakupinaa’, 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:31.849 meaning ‘he apparently said this to him’. 00:06:37.897 --> 00:06:42.151 This is the correct Cree, the way it should be said. 00:06:42.151 --> 00:06:47.865 It is not only the young people who do this, I even heard older people talking this way. 00:06:47.865 --> 00:06:53.162 I don’t mean to offend anyone, it’s just the way it is now. 00:06:53.162 --> 00:06:57.333 We are losing the correct way of speaking Cree. 00:06:57.667 --> 00:07:04.257 When we talk about the mountains or high hills, 00:07:08.177 --> 00:07:13.599 and the way the rocky parts are broken at the top, 00:07:14.725 --> 00:07:27.029 the word ‘iyaahkushtaau’ means parts of the broken mountain top are scattered all over the ground. 00:07:28.322 --> 00:07:43.880 But when large rocks are scattered anywhere, the word used is ‘paahkutiwaau’ for this area. 00:07:46.424 --> 00:07:50.136 My name is Lucy Petagumskum. 00:07:50.678 --> 00:07:58.394 I agreed to talk about the Cree language 00:07:58.394 --> 00:08:09.155 because I know it is declining rapidly, here in our community. 00:08:09.155 --> 00:08:14.410 People say we speak our language well here, but this is not the case. 00:08:14.410 --> 00:08:18.789 We are starting to experience what other Native people further south have already experienced 00:08:18.789 --> 00:08:20.750 and that is losing our Mother tongue. 00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:24.045 They are now using the English language. 00:08:24.045 --> 00:08:35.306 This is also true for the older generation who are mixing their Cree language with English. 00:08:36.140 --> 00:08:40.228 It is not surprising that our young children are losing their language, 00:08:40.228 --> 00:08:44.565 they are always hearing English at home, from television. 00:08:44.565 --> 00:08:50.780 They are also hearing only English from the devices they play with, 00:08:50.780 --> 00:08:56.577 which causes them to lose their Cree language. 00:08:58.162 --> 00:09:06.587 The children learn to understand English even before going to school from watching television. 00:09:07.213 --> 00:09:20.476 A parent told me she is surprised when her children starts speaking English or naming things in English, 00:09:20.893 --> 00:09:27.400 which they had learned from the television and the devices they play with. 00:09:27.400 --> 00:09:37.493 I think this is harmful, the way the children learn this language instead of their own. 00:09:41.038 --> 00:09:49.046 This foreign language sticks in their minds. 00:09:49.046 --> 00:09:56.178 Sadly, the children speak English when they play rather than talking in their own Cree language. 00:09:56.178 --> 00:10:00.850 This is one way of losing their Cree identity, when they start speaking English. 00:10:01.684 --> 00:10:11.652 If we don’t take a stand now this will be the reason why we lose our Cree language. 00:10:11.652 --> 00:10:19.076 I think it is very important to preserve and maintain our language. 00:10:19.493 --> 00:10:27.627 We must try hard to keep it in order for our young people and our children to speak it 00:10:27.627 --> 00:10:32.840 so they themselves can pass it on to future generations. 00:10:34.050 --> 00:10:42.767 I also have a difficult time with my own grandchildren when I ask them to help me in some way. 00:10:42.767 --> 00:10:47.855 They don’t understand when I speak Cree, when telling them what I want. 00:10:47.855 --> 00:10:52.234 They just stand there looking perplexed, glancing at each other. 00:10:52.234 --> 00:10:59.575 They’re afraid to let me know that they don’t understand what I am saying in Cree. 00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:08.668 After a while, they ask each other if anyone understood and if no one did, they ask me to explain. 00:11:08.668 --> 00:11:17.885 I try to explain it in Cree and still they have a hard time understanding me. 00:11:17.885 --> 00:11:23.391 They try to say the words in Cree and from there I know why they cannot understand 00:11:23.391 --> 00:11:27.311 because they cannot even say the words in Cree properly. 00:11:28.604 --> 00:11:38.489 For people my age, we had no problem using our minds in the Cree way 00:11:38.489 --> 00:11:45.413 because the only language we heard around us was the Cree language. 00:11:45.413 --> 00:11:58.300 The only time we heard the English language was when we met people who only spoke English. 00:11:59.051 --> 00:12:04.932 It was very easy for us to learn and speak the Cree language, 00:12:04.932 --> 00:12:09.937 this was the language our parents used for everything, like the earth and the life on it. 00:12:09.937 --> 00:12:21.532 For instance when he said, ‘aukitinaahch’, he did not mention the word ‘aashtihtaayaauhch’ 00:12:21.532 --> 00:12:30.541 which means the places the sun shines on from the sky. 00:12:31.041 --> 00:12:46.098 On the rapids, we use ‘aashtihtaakaamaayaachiwin’ and ‘aukikaamaayaachiwin’. 00:12:47.475 --> 00:13:00.112 Even a single tree has many terms in Cree which contain traditional Cree knowledge. 00:13:00.112 --> 00:13:10.206 Another thing I came to learn which I didn’t know before, are words used in winter. 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:13.584 ‘waawiipaashihtaauchin’ which refers... 00:13:13.584 --> 00:13:15.336 - ‘waawiipaashihtikitin’ 00:13:15.336 --> 00:13:26.388 - ‘waawiipaashihtikitin’ refers to the way the tops of trees tremble. 00:13:27.640 --> 00:13:30.643 This is like someone shivering from the cold, 00:13:31.352 --> 00:13:35.314 ‘wiiyaawiipaashtihkitich’ is the Cree word to describe this motion on the trees. 00:13:35.689 --> 00:13:42.947 This is when the whole tree cannot move because it is frozen from the cold. 00:13:46.367 --> 00:13:56.293 It was easy for the young people to understand when the only language they heard was Cree, 00:13:56.293 --> 00:14:01.006 so they could figure out the meaning using the Cree way of thinking. 00:14:01.006 --> 00:14:05.511 It is understandable today for the children not to speak Cree 00:14:05.511 --> 00:14:08.722 because they are distracted by all the different things surrounding them 00:14:08.722 --> 00:14:13.978 making it hard for them to concentrate on learning the Cree language. 00:14:14.562 --> 00:14:21.694 This prevents them from learning the language they should be speaking, which is the Cree language. 00:14:21.694 --> 00:14:26.365 We, as adults, add to this problem by our inaction and not preventing this situation to occur, 00:14:26.365 --> 00:14:30.870 such as using English words instead of our own language. 00:14:31.954 --> 00:14:37.501 Sometimes, the only way my grandchildren can understand me is to use English words. 00:14:37.501 --> 00:14:45.384 This is the only way they understand what I tell them, using English instead of Cree for some words. 00:14:45.384 --> 00:14:49.930 I am not talking only about my grandchildren, but also other young people. 00:14:50.806 --> 00:14:59.982 Another thing when I say the Cree way of thinking is that 00:15:00.316 --> 00:15:07.239 knowledge and teachings were stored in the mind without the use of technical or motorized gadgets. 00:15:07.239 --> 00:15:14.079 Everything people needed to know was kept in the mind. 00:15:14.079 --> 00:15:21.879 Teachings and predictions about the atmosphere were learned by observing the sun and the earth. 00:15:22.254 --> 00:15:28.385 This is how intimate people were with life that sustained them out on the land. 00:15:29.553 --> 00:15:37.686 With these observations, people could predict what the weather would bring for the day or for the season. 00:15:37.686 --> 00:15:42.441 It was like nature was speaking to them, like the sun, for instance. 00:15:43.108 --> 00:15:55.537 By looking at the sun at dawn, they would know what the weather would be like for the day. 00:15:55.621 --> 00:16:04.213 Early in the morning, people knew by looking at the sun if the weather would be good that day 00:16:04.213 --> 00:16:07.508 or what other conditions they could expect. 00:16:07.508 --> 00:16:12.012 All these signs could also be seen in the sky, according to the sun. 00:16:12.012 --> 00:16:17.142 This is how well the Cree people knew and understood their world. 00:16:17.142 --> 00:16:25.442 This was done by looking to the sky and the earth. 00:16:25.776 --> 00:16:34.827 In the morning, when the sun came up red during spring or summer seasons, 00:16:34.827 --> 00:16:41.250 this meant that the day would be very warm later on. 00:16:42.626 --> 00:16:46.296 When this happened, 00:16:46.296 --> 00:16:54.471 people got up very early to do the heavy outside work before it got too hot. 00:16:55.014 --> 00:16:59.518 In cold winter when the sun starts to set, 00:16:59.518 --> 00:17:07.359 if a tree-shaped shadow is seen against the sunlight, it meant that it would become colder. 00:17:07.609 --> 00:17:10.779 ‘chaa tihkaayaaschaat’, 00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:15.075 meaning the sun predicts cold weather. 00:17:15.075 --> 00:17:26.336 When this happens in mild weather, it means rain is on its way, and in winter, snow is on its way. 00:17:31.341 --> 00:17:39.308 Rain is predicted even if it happens to be a nice day. 00:17:41.602 --> 00:17:52.362 As for the rainbow, it also has meanings and predictions for oncoming weather. 00:17:52.362 --> 00:18:01.121 There are different signs to look for in the rainbow 00:18:01.121 --> 00:18:09.004 in order to know what or when to expect certain weather conditions. 00:18:09.379 --> 00:18:16.970 Wet weather can be predicted according to the time of day the rainbow appears in the sky. 00:18:18.097 --> 00:18:28.732 If it appears to be close, it means it will rain soon. 00:18:31.110 --> 00:18:41.370 If it is far and high, it means nice weather will come soon. 00:18:43.664 --> 00:18:57.845 When the sun has a rainbow on each side of it and looks like it’s covering its ears, 00:18:57.845 --> 00:19:07.563 “kaaschaahut’ is the Cree word for this, it means cold weather is coming. 00:19:09.648 --> 00:19:29.710 In the spring, there were signs as to whether the spring would be nice or rainy. 00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:38.802 This knowledge was known just by looking at the sky and signs seen on the earth itself. 00:19:38.802 --> 00:19:59.823 Predictions about weather conditions and seasons could also be done by observing animals and fowl. 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:11.793 When we were young, we would be told to dress warmly when cold weather came. 00:20:12.211 --> 00:20:34.107 Cold weather can bring mishaps and dangerous situations. It can also bring death. 00:20:34.107 --> 00:20:51.208 If a person thinks he can weather the cold in a boastful way, if it happens, he can no longer move. 00:20:51.208 --> 00:20:58.090 This would be the end of his life. 00:20:58.090 --> 00:21:07.224 We were warned about this and were told to cover our heads when we went out in cold weather. 00:21:07.224 --> 00:21:17.651 We were told that harmful things hung around at night and not to wander outside in the dark. 00:21:18.318 --> 00:21:30.580 If a person happens to cross these evil things at night, then it could affect that person’s mind in a bad way. 00:21:32.249 --> 00:21:39.089 Sometimes it makes me wonder about the young people who stay out all night in the dark, 00:21:39.089 --> 00:21:48.765 whether they know about these teachings that we heard when we were young. 00:21:49.766 --> 00:21:57.107 These children sometimes don’t wear coverings on their heads when they are out at night. 00:21:57.107 --> 00:22:01.028 It makes you think about what young children are experiencing today. 00:22:01.028 --> 00:22:04.614 It is not easy to keep them to stay in a secure place. 00:22:04.614 --> 00:22:08.410 It happens to us, as adults, too. 00:22:08.410 --> 00:22:15.208 We do not stay inside, so the children do this also. 00:22:15.208 --> 00:22:23.884 It is not easy to teach them when we do the things we are trying to stop them from doing. 00:22:23.884 --> 00:22:31.725 It is we who are losing the teachings that have been passed down to our grandfathers and grandmothers. 00:22:33.143 --> 00:22:39.483 It will not be an easy task to get back to the healthy lifestyle our people had in the past, 00:22:39.483 --> 00:22:46.406 because we were distracted by outside things coming our way, 00:22:46.406 --> 00:22:55.499 which we thought were more exciting for us than the teachings held by our ancestors. 00:22:55.499 --> 00:23:00.796 The focus of enhancing and preserving our Cree language is lost. 00:23:02.547 --> 00:23:08.678 We thought the new things brought by outsiders would make us happier 00:23:08.678 --> 00:23:12.641 and that other things were more exciting than staying home at night. 00:23:12.641 --> 00:23:19.898 The young people would rather not stop doing these things at night. 00:23:19.898 --> 00:23:26.446 They think these things will help them to feel good and not do anything bad to their bodies. 00:23:26.446 --> 00:23:32.077 They cannot think in a good way when they take too much of these things. 00:23:32.077 --> 00:23:39.126 They help them stay awake and not go to bed until they can no longer move 00:23:39.126 --> 00:23:43.630 and sometimes sleep wherever they fall. 00:23:43.630 --> 00:23:51.471 People fall wherever they pass out and sometimes this person cannot get up again 00:23:51.471 --> 00:23:57.561 and is found dead where he had passed out. 00:23:57.561 --> 00:24:02.107 This is what is happening now. 00:24:02.107 --> 00:24:11.575 These new things that we include in our lives cause tragic events to happen in our town.