Story in English and Cree

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Story in English and Cree
Mrs. Philomene Corrigal
Canoe Lake First Nation
Cree (Nêhiyawêwin)

Humility

tapahtêyimowin
1. "The story I am about to tell you happened one time when I, my mother, and other family members had been out on a hunting trip. The hunt was successful at that time. It happened by a lake where many treelined islands could be seen.

1. ôma âcimowin kâ-wî-âcimostâtân ê-kî-ispayik; pêyakwâw êkospî, niya, nikâwiy, nohtâwiy mîna nîcisânak ê-mâci-piciyâhk. kî-miyopayiwak êkospî omâcîwak sisonê sâkahikanihk ita ê-ministikoskâk.

2. We were on our way home when we caught sight of some pelicans. This was one of their favorite locations in the area. At the edge of the island where the pelicans had gathered, it was well packed down from use by other animals and birds. The beautiful birds were easily visible as they were silhouetted against the dark green background of the island's treeline. Without really thinking about what he was doing, my uncle began to shoot at them. Being an excellent marksman, he easily hit five of the pelicans killing them instantly.

2. ê-pimi-kîwêyâhk êkwa kâ-wâpamâyâhkik cahcâkiwak pêyakwayak mâna ita ohcitaw ê-tasihkêcik. sisonê ministikohk êkota ôki cahcâkiwak asiyatowak. mitoni kistatahamwak nanâtohk pîyêsîsak mîna kotakak pisiskiwak. katawasisiwak anihi cahcâkiwak ê- asicinâkosicik ministikohk. namôya ahpô mâh-mâmitonêyihtam tânisi ê-itôtahk nohcâwîs, kâ-mâci-pâh-pâskiswât anihi cahcâkiwa. êyikohk ê-nahâskwêt, sêmâk niyânan nipahêw êkota cahcâkiwa anihi.

3. Surprised by my uncle's actions, my mother turned to him and using a firm voice, told him that he had tampered with the law of nature. Needlessly killing pelicans she said, would bring the wind to answer this desecration.
3. koskohik nohcâwîsa awa nikâwiy ê-misi-kanawâpamât. "kwanita ê-mikoskâcihât pîkwac-âya," itwêw. "kwanita êkos îsi kâ-nipahacik cahcâkiwak, âhci ta-misi-yôtin," itêw.

4. Later that afternoon, we could see the clouds gathering in the distance to the west. By time evening arrived, and we were on our way home, the wind really began to blow. At one point, a window of a nearby cabin was blown right off from its casing. Standing trees were blown over by the force of the wind, spread over the ground like a roughly woven blanket. This intense wind also brought rain.

4.ê-akwâci-pôni-âpihtâ-kîsikâk pê-nôkwan ê-pê-misi-yîkwaskwahk pahkisimôtâhk. ispî êkwa ê-otâkosik ê-pimi-kîwêyâhk. âsay êkwa kâ-mâci-yôtihk. pêyakwayak wâsênamân wayawîyâstan wâskahikanisihk ohci. sôskwâc mistikwak ê-kâh-kawâsicik nanâtohk ê-itâskosihkik tâskôc ê-nâh-nâtohkokwâtêk akohp. êkwa mîna êyikohk ê- kimiwahk.

5. We rushed into the house and began to board up the windows with canvas frames. Rain pelted against the house and seeped in from the under the door. During the night, after we had already gone to bed, my father had to leap from his bed to grab a white canvas board so he could nail it quickly against another window blown apart by the continuing fury of the wind. By now, we all awoke to help my father to brace the other windows with yet more canvas frames.

5. nipihtokwêyâmonân wâskahikanihk êkwa ê-mâci-kâh-kiposakahamâhk wâsênamâna apahkwâsonêkin ohci. misi-kimiwan, kwanita kâ-pihtokwêciwahk nipiy sîpâ iskwâhtêmihk ohci. ê-kî-kawisimoyâhk êkwa âsay kêtahtawê nohtâwiy kâ-waniskâpahtât ê-nawacipitahk kotaka pahkwâsonêkin ê-akosakahahk kotakihk wâsênamânihk ê- yohtêyâstaniyik. kahkiyaw êkwa mîna ê-waniskâyâhk ê-wîcihâyâhk ta-sa-sîhtawipitahk kotaka wâsênamâna.

6. When morning arrived the whole area adjacent to our cabin was covered with a thick blanket of grass, sticks, leaves and branches.

6. ê-wâpahk êkwa sôskwâc misiwê cîki wâsakâm ê-pimastêki maskosiya, mistikwa, nîpiya êkwa watihkwana.

7. That was how strong the wind blew

7. êkosi anima êyikohk ê-kî-isi-misi-yôtihk. êyikohk ê-kî-sohkiyôwêk mâna êkospî.
Artist: Artist Dave Kessler
Pelican painted by Artist Dave Kessler, Sculptor unknown.

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The first Native American woman to earn a degree from the University of Oxford

Kelsey Leonard

Kelsey Leonard is the first Native American woman to earn a degree from the University of Oxford, which she earned in 2012. She earned a MSc in Water Science.
A newly-graduated student is “proud” to have become the first Native American woman to receive a degree from the University of Oxford.
Kelsey Leonard, a student at St Cross College, graduated on 22nd September after completing a two-year MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management.
She is a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a Native American tribe, whose reservation is located near Southampton in New York State. Leonard was “surprised” when she learned of her historic achievement, calling “the whole thing a bit surreal”.
She said that her time at Oxford was a “unique experience,” which she “really enjoyed, particularly meeting graduate students from around the world and being taught by a faculty at the cutting edge of research in environmental science.”



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Did you know?


Grasshoppers are disliked in agricultural societies all over the world because fluctuations in their population can cause huge swarms of them to wipe out farmers' crops. This is also true in North America, and in the folklore of tribes that rely more heavily on agriculture, grasshoppers are often portrayed with all manner of character flaws such as greed, carelessness, un-trustworthiness, etc. They are also associated with bad luck and discord, and in the Hopi tribe, they are sometimes said to bite the noses of children who disobey elders or violate taboos.
On the other hand, tribes who primarily made their living as hunter-gatherers were rarely bothered by grasshoppers, and the insects do not have these negative connotations in their traditional stories. In some tribes, it was said that grasshoppers could predict the weather and even had power over changes in the weather (especially drought and rain.) And in Mexico, grasshoppers sometimes make an appearance in legends as... food! (Roasted crickets and grasshoppers were a traditional delicacy in many Mexican tribes, and are still enjoyed by some people there today.)

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Outdoor portrait of a Menominee Indian man and two Menominee Indian women. He holds a decorated ceremonial pipe in his right hand.

Grasshopper and the Origin of Tobacco
One day Manabush was walking past a high mountain when he smelled a delightful fragrance which seemed to be coming from a crevice in the cliffs. He went closer and found that the mountain was home to a Giant who was known to be the keeper of tobacco. Manabush found a cavern in the side of the mountain and went inside, following a passage which led into the center of the mountain where the Giant lived. The Giant asked Manabush very sternly what he wanted. Manabush answered that he had come for some tobacco, but the Giant told him that the spirits had just been there for their smoke. Since the ceremony only happened once a year, the Giant told Manabush to come back in a year. Manabush found this difficult to believe, because when he looked around the Giant's cavern, he saw bags and bags of tobacco all around it. So he snatched one of the bags and dashed out of the mountain, closely pursued by the Giant. Manabush reached the top of the mountain and leaped from peak to peak. The Giant followed him closely, and when Manabush reached the edge of a cliff, he fell down flat and the Giant leaped over him and fell over the cliff and into the chasm.
The Giant was badly bruised, but managed to climb up the face of the cliff, where he hung at the top with all of his fingernails torn off. Then Manabush grabbed the giant by the back and threw him to the ground and said, "For your stinginess, you will become the Grasshopper, and everyone will know you by your stained mouth. You will become a pest and bother all those who raise tobacco."
Then Manabush took the tobacco home and divided it among the people and gave them the seed so they could grow it themselves and use it for offerings and blessings.
(Adapted from W.J. Hoffman, 1890, "Mythology of the Menomini Indians," American Anthropologist 3[3]:243-58.)
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