ᐄᔨᔨᐅᒋᔅᑯᑎᒫᒑᐧᐃᓂᔨᐤ ᐋᐦ ᒋᔅᑯᑎᒫᒑᓂᐧᐃᐧᐃᔨᒡ ᑳ ᐋᐱᑎᔒᔥᑎᐦᒡ

Cree Programs

Through the department of Cree Programs, the Cree School Board ensures that our schools and communities have the resources they need to support the preservation of our language and identity as IIyiyiuch/Iinuuch through Eeyou education.

Mission Statement

We help our students develop a strong, healthy IIyiyiu/Iinuu identity. We achieve this mission by working closely with them and our elders:

Developing, strengthening, preserving and honouring our IIyiyiu/Iinuu knowledge and practices, with.
- Language
- Culture, Values, Teachings
- Customs, Traditions, ceremonies
- Traditional Laws and methods of settling disputes
- Legends and Stories
- Technologies

Providing support to IIyiyiu/Iinuu teachers and mentors.
Create and foster a healthy, stimulating IIyiyiu/Iinuu learning experience and environment.

Vision Statement

By ensuring dedicated support for Cree language and culture programming and in our curriculum, we enhance the student experience for our youth sector students.

The department of Cree Programs not only oversees the development of the learning materials including the publication of new materials and the teaching of these materials in our schools, but also support the development of the Eastern James Bay Cree Writing System.

Cree Language and Culture Resources

Cree School Board Teachers can request all catalogued resources created by the department of Cree Programs in the East Cree language, in both southern and northern dialects.

For southern dialect material, contact Patricia Diamond ()
For northern dialect material, contact Stephanie House ()

To view resources, including Stories, Reference Grammar, Forum, Lesson, Dictionary, Resource Section, and Catalogue, you may visit the interactive East Cree Language website at EastCree.org, a non-profit partnership between Cree Programs (Cree School Board), and Prof., Marie-Odile Junker (Carleton University).

Go to the EastCree.org website

What you can find on EastCree.org

Stories. The language can be heard, and the text also be read in syllabics. The story database contains hundreds of stories and other oral material.
Reference Grammar. It contains a database for the many Cree verb forms.
Forum. The terminology forum is for creating new Cree words such as medical terminology, justice, information technology.
Lesson. There are hundreds of on-line exercises for learning syllabics orthography for the two dialects, using image and sound, lessons and game-like exercises.
Dictionary. The Eastern James Bay Cree dictionary is available as a downloadable electronic version in northern and southern dialect. It is constantly updated by the editorial team.
Resource Section. The resource section has a Cree conversational manual, the talking syllabic chart, training videos on how to install and type syllabic fonts on a computer and many downloadable documents.
Catalogue. The catalogue has all the Cree Programs/Cree School Board publications. It is regularly updated.

Visual Resources for our Students

Here are some examples of posters, flashcards, action words and syllabic charts that are available to help support teachers in teaching Cree language and culture.