By Derek Cornet

Cree language celebrated at SMVS festival

Mar 16, 2018 | 2:00 PM

Education focussed on understanding the Cree language is one of the goals of a festival happening today at Senator Myles Venne School.

Close to 175 students from other nearby schools also attended the festival, which was organized by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, including Bell’s Point Elementary School and Sucker River’s Chief Moses Ratt School. According to Lac La Ronge Indian Band Director of Education Simon Bird, it’s been some time since the event was last held, and he hopes it will be held annually once again.

“The Cree language, especially in La Ronge, is very strong and spoken mostly by adults and older Elders,” Bird said. “What we want to do is reintroduce it back to the young people, get them comfortable speaking, let them have fun and make that connection between younger speakers and older speakers.”

During regular class hours, Bird said the students participate in Cree choir or tell stories in the language. The festival is about embracing Cree and celebrating it, he said, as well as encouraging students to have fun at the same time.

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“We wanted to make sure we did things right,” Bird said. “There’s some technical issues that need to be worked out, but for the most part this re-annual event will be a success.”

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno