Languages in the Community

Twenty years ago, anthropologists identified Cree as one of only three Aboriginal languages expected to survive to the year 2000 (of the 60 or so Aboriginal languages in Canada). Despite this, the Cree themselves considered their own language endangered.

Since signing the James Bay Agreement in 1973, and regaining control over much of the education system in Eeyou Istchee (Cree territory), officials with the Cree School Board say the language is once more "strong... and rich."

The respondents credit the emphasis the Cree School Board has placed upon making Cree instruction mandatory in the elementary schools from Kindergarten to Grade 3. The Cree Literacy Program has also been instrumental is raising the level of Cree fluency not only among grade school students but adults as well. The Cree School Board developed the Cree Literacy Program in conjunction with the Office of First Nation and Inuit Education at McGill University. In seven years, 134 people - mostly school instructors - have graduated with Certificates in Aboriginal (Cree) Literacy Education.

Goals and Objectives

The Cree Literacy Program is only part of an overall strategy developed by the James Bay Cree to strengthen their language. They planned to:

* Make Cree the language of instruction in all primary schools under Cree authority from Kindergarten to Grade 3;
* Increase the number of instructors able to teach in Cree; and
* Designate Cree the official language in all Cree offices and businesses.

The James Bay Agreement of 1973 initiated this movement by stipulating that "The teaching of languages shall be Cree..." The creation of the Cree School Board, and the resources flowing from the land claim settlement, made this possible.

The Grand Council of the Cree and the Cree Regional Authority have in recent years passed resolutions to make Cree the official language of business in all Cree offices.

Funding

The Cree Literacy Program ran from 1999 to 2002 in all nine Cree communities. It had two "cohorts." The first began in 1995, before the existence of the ALI Program. The second cohort ran from 1999 to 2002 and benefitted to some extent from ALI funding.

Originally intended to bring Cree teachers and teaching assistants to a certain level of fluency in Cree, it broadened eligibility during the ALI funding period to include "anyone in the Cree communities" who met two conditions:

* The applicants must speak Cree to some degree
* They must be a status member of a Cree community

Another factor in the final selection of participants was whether the applicant worked in some official capacity for the Cree Regional Authority or the Cree School Board.

McGill University had 200 applicants and accepted about 150 people to the program. The students had to complete ten courses, held mostly at night and on weekends, in order to qualify for graduation. Many of the Cree graduates from the first cohort became instructors for the second cohort.

In June of this year, 84 students graduated. For the first time in McGill's history, the convocation ceremony took place outside the University and was held instead in Val d'Or. Also for the first time, the ceremonies were held in the Cree language.

Some of the graduates were teachers. Most, however, were band council employees, secretaries, and directors of various Cree agencies, business owners or parents wishing to speak with their children in their own language. One of the graduates was a 64-year old grandmother.

The students had to log 500 hours of instruction, much of it on weekends or in night courses because many of the students held full-time jobs or were teaching in the schools during regular work hours. Many weekends would consist of 25 hours of instruction. The CSB and the Office of First Nation and Inuit Education of McGill in Waskaganish, Mistissini and Chisasibi delivered the courses. The students earned a Certificate of Aboriginal Literacy Education (Cree) upon graduation.

Five students made the Dean's Honour Roll, achieving not only the highest marks in the Cree Literacy Program but also were ranked among the highest achieving students (GPA) in McGill University.

ALI funding supported most of the fees paid to language instructors for this second cohort.

* figures according to Debbie House-Cox, Report on the Aboriginal Languages Initiatives Project, June 2001

The Cree School Board provided the balance of annual funding needed to cover the cost of the Cree Literacy Program that cost approximately $150,000 for the second cohort.

The Cree respondents to this survey stated that ALI funding constituted a relatively minor - although welcome - part of the overall budget of the Cree Literacy Program. Their main suggestion to ALI was to provide additional and separate funds specifically for the creation of instructional materials in Aboriginal languages, including Cree.

Impacts and Effects

The respondents say they have witnessed a remarkable change in attitude in their own Cree communities about their language. Even during the relatively short period of time that the ALI program has been in place, there have been more students learning Cree and speaking Cree in their everyday activities.

Respondent:

The children play in their own language in the community now. Before, when we were growing up, we all played in half-Cree, half-English. Now, the children walk around the community speaking Cree, in the stores, at the school, in the restaurants. They fish together and speak Cree. They speak it all the time.

They still know how to speak English but Cree is their first language and the one they speak most of the time.

Where once they felt the language dying, the respondents said they felt much more confident of its survival today. While they praise ALI, the funding they receive from this program is minimal compared to the amount invested by the Cree School Board to this effort. Still, the respondents said, this amount was welcome. It allowed the Cree School Board to do more than it might otherwise be able.

They also say the emphasis on Cree instruction in the community - most especially among adults - has created a energy and a momentum that cuts across age groups to revive the Cree language in their nine communities. They say that even sceptics, who criticized the efforts to retain Cree in the past, appear to have been won over by the success of the program to date.

Respondent:

The Cree Literacy Program has opened the eyes of people in the community. There used to be lots of people who thought it [Cree Language of Instruction Program or CLIP] wouldn't work. They thought it would be a waste of time and money. However, the students have shown what they can do, not just the children but the adults as well.

Recommendations

There were two recommendations from the Cree Literacy Program:

* Increase ALI funding; and
* Direct a portion of the fund to support the development of instructional material for use in language (Cree) programs.