Making the Cree language accessible: tâpwê kinitawêyihtênaw ka-nêhiyawêyahk

As a direct result of colonial violences including the residential school system and successive child welfare scoops, all Indigenous languages in Canada are considered endangered. Put more plainly, for generations Canada has waged a campaign of linguicide – the killing of languages without (only) killing the speakers. In the post-TRC era, some efforts have been made to repair the damage, but the dominance of colonial languages continues to displace and marginalize the original languages of these lands.[1]

Despite the fact that Cree is considered one of the strongest Indigenous languages in Canada, it remains in serious decline – only thirteen percent of Indigenous people can speak their language well enough to hold a conversation. Reversing language loss requires widespread access to language learning materials – something that does not yet currently exist for any Indigenous language in Canada. [2]

Don’t go thinking Indigenous Peoples are sitting around waiting for Canada to solve the problem it created! Language initiatives are happening all around you because we understand how fundamental our languages are to culture survival. [3]

In 2013 I was living in Montreal, surrounded by Métis and Cree prairie expats. We had a hunger for Cree language learning, but it felt impossible that far away from our homelands. I was working full-time and going through an awful lot and I needed something… joyful and regenerative. So I put together a fundraiser, organized, planned, and in January of 2014 I was able to launch a Cree classroom in our living room – complete with an interactive whiteboard and all the bells and whistles we needed. I still run into folks who took the courses (hi, Vicky!) and it’s always a joy to catch up on their lives. I wish I could have kept doing the course forever – but work got even more intense and I was pregnant and we were struggling to make ends meet.

Sharing Cree with others has been my main passion for nearly 20 years – yet even when I was teaching Cree at the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, it didn’t feel like enough. People were still reaching out to me all the time, asking if I knew where they could take Cree classes. I wish I could have said, “our classes,” but not everyone can arrange to go to a post-secondary institution and pay thousands of dollars to access their language.

In the wider community there can be drop-in conversation sessions, limited-time online classes, as well as language camps – all of which are amazing programs. There are some textbooks available that learners can access, but without explicit instruction to go along with them, folks often get discouraged. There is still a long-standing gap in access to Cree language learning for those who for various reasons – financial or personal constraints, time, location – can’t avail themselves of these programs. Or who can, but want a way to keep learning in-between. [4]

For years now I’ve wanted to drop everything and develop an online, asynchronous Cree language course available to the public free of cost and for personal use. I kept trying to commit to it, not acknowledging to myself that I was already working a full-time job, doing up to twenty talks a year, parenting full-time, becoming increasingly disabled… and eventually sliding into the deepest burnout of my life.

As a Cree instructor, I tried for eight years to convince the university that marshalling their resources to create a free online course was one way it could fulfill its commitments to reconciliation – but the institution moves so slowly and even before massive provincial budget cuts, it just didn’t seem to be a priority. When the possibility of monetizing such a course was raised, some interest was shown – but it didn’t come with the time or resources to see it through.

The plan: making the dream happen

I want to demonstrate that we don’t need a million dollar budget and a huge production team – and we certainly can’t wait for these things. I also strongly believe in creating a resource that is free to access. If you are an Indigenous person and Cree is one of your traditional languages, it is your birthright. The more opportunities that exist for you to reclaim that birthright, the better.

I also want other Indigenous folks and non-Indigenous people alike to feel welcomed into the Cree language. I have long advocated for our languages to be taught to everyone living on these lands, but Indigenous languages instructors are a precious and finite resource – often stretched thin as it is. Given that scarcity, prioritizing language reclamation for Indigenous learners has been the obvious choice. [5]

We need to find models that move beyond scarcity while never forgetting that our languages originate within and belong to our communities. Too often our languages are exploited from outside, for profit and career advancement, and the products are shut up behind copyright or a paywall. [6]

Obviously we live in a capitalist society, and taking care of my family is always going to be a concern – but it turns out I needed to quit my job to follow through on this dream. I’ve been surviving doing freelance work, writing grant proposals, and keeping my fingers crossed. Amazingly I was awarded a small grant that will keep the lights on long enough to put together a fairly bare-bones introductory Cree course with twelve modules totalling about thirty-six hours of instruction. It’s my hope that I can continue to find funding to keep going, expanding the course and available resources, even creating an intermediate course down the road.

A constellation of learning

There is no single resource that is going to create a completely fluent speaker – no app, textbook, summer camp, or grammar course. There is no magic solution, just a constellation of expanding resources, time, and effort. [7]

What I am developing is meant to compliment other Cree learning approaches by providing systematic, in-depth instruction and practice with grammar and vocabulary content, equivalent in quality to that which is offered in a post-secondary, introductory-level second language course. Whereas when I taught at the University of Alberta, I could only provide this instruction to a hundred students at most a year, there is no class-size limit here. The other side of that of course is there also isn’t the same level of immediate one-on-one instructor access.

No prior experience with Cree is needed. Materials will be made accessible to all learners, from beginners to intermediate and advanced. This course is also intended to support Cree language instructors at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels, as well as parent and guardian learners who wish to use Cree in the home. In this way young children, with guidance from older learners, can benefit from the course.

The course being asynchronous means learners can access materials at any time and will not be constrained by time limits. Learners can complete the course, or portions of it, and stop/start whenever they choose. People can engage in individual study, or do it together in groups which is something I highly recommend. Those who do complete the course should expect high-beginner to low-intermediate fluency, particularly in reading and writing. Spoken and aural (listening comprehension) fluency tend to be harder to develop, requiring more in-person authentic language exposure like those language immersion experiences I mentioned previously.

My timeline for releasing this course is three months from now, so at the beginning of September 2025.

How to support the project

The funding I do have will only last for three months – and only if I manage to supplement this income with a couple of other writing or speaking gigs.

If you’d like to contribute financially to keep the project going, both in terms of expanding the introductory course into two semester-long chunks, as well as fleshing out the course with more resources – such as video and audio recordings of fluent speakers representing a variety of Cree and Cree-speaking Métis communities across Alberta and Saskatchewan, there are a few ways you can do so.

If you want to donate, please include the message: CREE COURSE. This is taxable income and I have to declare it!

• Through Paypal (they take 2.9%, and a fixed fee):

• You can subscribe to my Patreon (they take 5%, and processing fees):

• For other methods (cheque, e-transfer) get in touch via my:

• I also have a wish list through amazon for items needed for the class:

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[1] Nicholas, Andrea Bear. 2011. “Linguicide.” Briarpatch Magazine, March 1, 2011. https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/linguicide

[2] Statistics Canada. 2023. Indigenous Language Across Canada. March 29, 2023, 2021 Census. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/98-200-x/2021012/98-200-x2021012-eng.cfm

[3] Vowel, Chelsea. 2013. “The reports of our cultural deaths have always been greatly exaggerated.” Fuse Magazine, Survival and Survivalists 35-3 Summer. 12 – 17. Also available here: https://apihtawikosisan.com/2013/12/the-reports-of-our-cultural-deaths-have-always-been-greatly-exaggerated/

[4] Some wonderful Cree-language initiatives and textbooks:

• nēhiyawak Language Experience: https://nehiyawak.org/ Belinda Daniels’ incredible vision has expanded to a team of Cree-language rock-stars, including my first Cree teacher and former colleague, the incomparable Dorothy Thunder. Beginning with an on-the-land immersion camp, the program now has expanded workshops, some of which are accessible via zoom, that can take learners beyond introductory Cree.
• kâniyâsihk Culture Camps: https://kaniyasihkculturecamps.com/ Kevin Lewis is one of the most astonishing speakers I’ve had the pleasure to hear – he often delivers his talks with a fluent Cree/English bilingualism I’ve never encountered before. I don’t mean translating either – he just switches back and forth. Anyway! What used to be a summer immersion program has expanded into year-long activities including cultural events like rites of passage, and they train Land Based Educators.
• The Edmonton Public Library (EPL): https://epl.bibliocommons.com/events/65009299fe001e3e00f25403 EPL arranges free, in-person lessons at various times of the year
• The University of Regina open textbooks program has provided a free version of Jean Okimāsis’ Cree Language of the Plains. Link to PDF: https://ctl.uregina.ca/assets/creelanguageoftheplainstextbook.pdf
• Also available is a workbook and audio lab sessions: https://collection.bccampus.ca/textbooks/cree-language-of-the-plains-nehiyawewin-paskwawi-pikiskwewin-university-of-regina-92/
• Solomon Ratt’s mâci-nêhiyawêwin textbook can be purchased here: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/M/maci-nehiyawewin-Beginning-Cree
• Solomon Ratt’s âhkami-nêhiyawêwin textbook can be purchased here: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/A/ahkami-nehiyawetan-Let-s-Keep-Speaking-Cree2

[5] Vowel, Chelsea. 2018. “Why Indigenous Languages Should be Taught Alongside French and English.” Chatelaine, May 4, 2018. https://chatelaine.com/opinion/indigenous-languages-census-canada/

[6] Brewer, Graham Lee. 2022. “Lakota Elders Helped a White Man Preserve Their Language. Then He Tried to Sell it Back to Them.” NBC News, June 3, 2022. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-american-language-preservation-rcna31396

[7] Although in my collection of short stories, I did imagine a sort of “magic technology” to create mother-tongue speakers – but alas it is still just science fiction: Vowel, Chelsea. 2022. “Âniskôhôcikan.” Buffalo is the New Buffalo, 201 – 216. (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press)