Cree class revitalizes language in Manitoba First Nation

At this elementary, the day starts in Cree, reading a prayer. Thank you. The language used in morning announcements and birthday wishes too to keep a part of Fisher River alive. Because we can't let our Cree language die. We can't. We need to carry it on. You know, it needs to be there. Again, it gives us who we are as a Cree people. Most adults in Fisher River aren't fluent in the language. lost after decades of residential schools where children were forbidden to speak Cree. All of them spoke Cree here. Janet Cree bears the consequences from this dark part of history. Cree, part of her family for generations, until her parents were forced to attend residential schools. Both survived, then chosen to teach Janet or her sister the language. They were kind of afraid because those Indian agents were really We really did a number on our people. Stories like Cree's, the reason why Fisher River started teaching Cree in the elementary school about a decade ago. We had to do something to create more fluency. Director of Education Norma Murdoch says Cree was taught daily in between subjects, but the language wasn't sticking. So they created a dedicated Cree class that every student, between nursery to grade six, takes every other day of the week. It's the young kids who can really pick up really quickly. They know that they're First Nations living on the reserve and if the language is there then it just gives them a sense of pride. Pride. Pa-pi-tu-pa. Pa-pi-tu-pa. Pa-pi-tu-pa. Pa. At this grade 5 class, students go over Cree basics, practicing the language syllabics with songs and writing, activities designed by Frank George, the elementary's Cree teacher. With Fisher River, you know, we're doing our best to revitalize the language. My hope is that they can speak the language and that they can carry through for generations and generations. Yeah, Fisher River is around here somewhere, yeah? He started teaching Cree without a classroom five years ago. Now he's helping the First Nation develop language curricula for every grade. I want to instill in the students, you know, to know who they are, where they come from. Some of his students already see it that way. Why do you think it's important to speak Cree? Because it's my language and it's also my culture. Leaders in Fisher River say it will take other changes to have fluent Cree speakers. All education staff are required to learn the language and use it as part of their instruction. They're also working to hire a dedicated Cree teacher for grades 7 to 12. For elders like Cree, the progress made is already encouraging. This here is my great-granddaughter Emerson. She's four. She just started nursery this year and she's taking Cree lessons already. Her great-granddaughter, the first in the family to learn the language in decades. I'm still a Cree woman, but I still find if I knew my language I'd be true, true, true Cree. As Cree returns to this home after three generations, Cree hopes one day the language is part of her family's legacy. Again, Santiago Arias Orozco, CBC News, Fisher River Cree Nation.