I am working with the Cultural and Wellness department in Wemindji, Quebec on a project aiming to celebrate and preserve the Cree way of life. Below is the website abstract, which I co-wrote with Katherine Scott, a co-worker on the project. I plan to write an article to promote the project closer to the launch of the website.
ᓂᑐᐦᑎᐦ᙮ ᓂᑎᐊᔨᒧᐧᐃᓂᓈᓐ ᐊᐅᒄ ᐧᐋᔅ ᑭᔮᐦ ᐊᓂᑎᐊᔅᒌᓈᓐ᙮
Listen! Our Language is in the Land
What knowledge do we need when we go out on the land?
“The most important thing to learn is to listen.” - James Shash
Want to explore the land and its rich history?
Listen! Our language is in the land
What is it? → Listen! Our language is in the land is an online virtual experience where you will encounter the beauty of our land through traditional teachings and language. The website will highlight the sounds of Eeyou Istchee (Cree land) and our language expressed via elders’ commentary, old stories and legends. Visitors will discover practical knowledge about living on the land during each season, alongside the profound beauty of Wemindji. Upon entering the site, visitors will explore the land via aural and visual tours of the landscape that create a multifaceted experience to engage our audience. The sounds of Eeyou Istchee (Cree land) will engage visitors in our story; calls of the loon, geese and other birds; the dip and splash of canoe paddles, lapping waves on an island shore, snow crunching underfoot, a crackling fire and a mother’s lullaby for her baby will accompany voices and imagery to illuminate cycles of change through the seasons, stages of life, and landscape shifts in this northern environment.
Soundscape recordings, video, photography, as well as the voices of our elders, will highlight the language, stories, and traditional teachings of Wemindji eeyouch. This content is being developed in close consultation with Wemindji youth and elders to center around multiple themes running throughout each season. Themes include: hunting, food, weather, collecting water, starting fires, travel, etc.
Who is it for? → The aim of Listen! Our language is in the land is to engage and inspire young people, specifically the youth of Wemindji, and others to continue to or begin to learn about how to safely live on the land. Thus, the website will help build a bridge between youth and elders in the community, passing on of the knowledge and language of elders for the well-being of our people and future generations. Youth may be directed towards Listen! for aid in school assignments, as well as encouraged to seek out the traditional teachings found within the website on their own time. Listen! will especially be an important resource for youth who do not have family members who spend much time on the land, but who wish to stay close to their culture.
It’s for the community → In keeping with the website’s goal of celebrating and passing on knowledge and traditional teachings, there will be a space provided - the Community Notebook - where members of Wemindji, youth and elders alike, will be able to add ongoing information about living on the land. This will be run like a blog - a curated feed - to feature photos, vidoes, and sounds taken/recorded by Wemindji’s community members while out on the land practising our cultural skills.
It’s for our future →Through the creation
and use of this website, Cree skills and ways
of knowing will be highlighted, celebrated, strengthened and preserved for generations to come.
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