Dedication needed to keep Cree alive - teacher

Stats Can estimate only two per cent of Natives in Saskatchewan speak Cree

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The Cree language is slowly disappearing in Saskatchewan, according to a recent survey.

But Native educators are waging a fierce battle to ensure the language's survival.

Although Cree is spoken throughout the province, little more than two per-cent of the Aboriginal community can speak it fluently. Statistics Canada estimates the Indian and Metis population in Saskatchewan at more than 100,000, approximately one-tenth of the province's total population.

Of those surveyed, 2,605 stated they could carry on a conversation in Cree.

A percentage of Saskatchewan Indian and Metis speak other Indian languages, such as Saulteaux, Dene, Nakota, Dakota, and Mitchie, a mixture of French and Cree.

But these latter languages are the minority when compared to the Cree-speaking population, or at least those who identify themselves as Cree.

Historically, there are 47 Cree-speaking reserves in Saskatchewan, out of a total of 74 reserves. These cannot be considered totally Cree speaking because of intermarriage with people speaking other languages such as Saulteaux or Dene.

The indication that the Cree language is in trouble, as other Indian languages across the continent, is not a new revelation.

In Saskatchewan, northern residents in places such as Cumberland House or Stanley Mission may not be as painfully aware of the loss of language as their southern neighbors in the urban centres of Saskatoon and Regina.

But Cree-speaking urban Aboriginals are rare.

What was being done to address this immediate loss of identity in the Indian communities? Education is usually the first step.

Gail Weenie, from Sweetgrass Reserves knows first hand the challenges of teaching Cree.

Weenie has been teaching Cree, formally and informally, for close to 18 years. Presently employed in Saskatoon at St. Mary's community school, an elementary school with 160 Indian and Metis Students, Weenie uses a variety of methods to get the language across. Among these strategies, she incorporates arts and crafts, dance, songs, games and spirituality to each Cree as culture, not isolating it in a context that renders the language meaningless.

Weenie understands the reality of teaching Cree to urban children, who often lack cultural ties with the language, as fluency would not be a tangible result at this stage.

The problem lies in the homes and communities where children neither speak nor hear Cree or any other Indian language.

Somewhere along the line a generation has not learned the language. Weenie believes the reason lies in the residential school syndrome, where Indian languages were physically and mentally beaten out of the students who are now adults and parents.

At St. Mary's requests for volunteers to help teach the Cree language are not answered.

In the teaching institutions from university down to kindergarten, the demand for Indian language teachers far exceeds the supply.

To qualify as a teacher one must complete four years of university to obtain their Bachelor of Education Degree, as well as being a fluent Indian language speaker.

And all this with English as a second language. In the cities and towns where Indian and Metis dwell, the grim realities of poverty and chronic unemployment take their toll.

"Learning the language is not a high priority when you're starving," Weenie observes.

This takes us to the home where Cree homework cannot be shared with the parents who are more concerned about survival, she said. A shortage of Cree instructional materials makes the situation even worse.

Throughout all this negativity, Weenie preserves in her teaching. She admits to becoming discouraged when the students return from summer holidays remembering virtually nothing from the previous spring. It's just like starting over in some respects, she sighs.

There are other teachers like Weenie who are dedicated to preserving and promoting their Native language.

In Ocober the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre offers adult and children

Cree classes as well as Saulteaux and Dakota. There are plans for Dene classes if an instructor is found.

The most important factor is maintaining the language is the community itself, said Weenie.

If a concerted effort does not emerge in the near future, the Cree language and other Indian languages could "just fade away."