nīhithaw nītha – otākosihk – anohc kākīsikāk – kākiki
I am Cree – Yesterday – Today – Forever
TPT – https://t.co/pApXMa8B4B
Category Archives: cv-BLOG
A blog of my thoughts.
Simple Commands in Woodland Cree
I did some audio for simple commands; some people have asked for these basic words and hopefully this post will answer their questions.
pihtokī – come inside (as in “come inside the house” or “come indoors”)
awas – go away
āstam – come here
kīwī – go home
api – sit down
pasikō – get up
itwī – say
kāwitha – do not, or don’t
aswīthihta – be careful
The resources I used:
https://creeliteracy.org/2018/01/25/its-all-about-the-verbs/
http://sapir.artsrn.ualberta.ca/itwewina/eng/crk/?lookup=command
http://nisto.com/cree/lesson/6.html – N dialect
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Happy Birthday – mitho tipiska
I updated this post because many people pointed out that I wrote the Cree word for “happy birthday” wrong, I wrote: “mitho tipiskansi” instead of “mitho tipiska,” like so many others did. So to accommodate my many supporters, I changed it up. Thank you all for your support.
Up here in Northern Saskatchewan, we say “ī-tipiskahk” when someone has a birthday. It is from the word “tipsiskaw” – night, so it is my 49th annual night, so to speak.
mitho tipiska – Happy Birthday
anohc ōma nitipiskamowin – Today is my birthday.
ī-tipiskahk – she/he is celebrating a birthday, or it’s his or her birthday
ī-tipiskaman – it is my birthday
Resources I used:
- Online Cree Dictionary ⇒
- itwêwasina ⇒
- I got the idea from the Cree Literacy Network and from the Facebook posts of Retired Cree Teacher – Solomon Ratt
Birthday cake Image by Pexels from Pixabay
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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nīso mihkināhkwak mītawīwak – two turtles play
Two mihkināhkwak (turtles) were floating through the universe with no real purpose in their lives. They would often race to see who could get to a planet or other celestial body. sīpihkosiw (she who is blue) would always challenge askihtakosiw (she who is green), to anything they would see ahead of them. It was mainly planets they raced to because they were safer, they usually stayed away from the hot balls of iskotiw (fire). sīpihkosiw was the outgoing, rebellious type of mihkināhk and askihtakosiw was a maternal , caring mihkināhk.
One time (there were no days), sīpihkosiw saw a beautiful bright star that shone much light and warmth to all in its path. sīpihkosiw decided it looked safe because of the light and warmth and could not be harmful. askihtakosiw was not so sure but she did not want to disappoint her only friend.
The race was on, sīpihkosiw grabbed an opportunistic head start as askihtakosiw noticed an almost dead planet as it rested by the wayside. sīpihkosiw called out, “niwī otahikan, osām īpapīcīn, ikwa nītha ītatāstapiyān.” – (I will win because you are too slow, and I am fast).
sīpihkosiw would not even look back and kept going toward the star. She did not even think about how dangerous it might be because she wanted to win, yet again against askihtakosiw. askihtakosiw looked ahead and noticed the star was looking brighter and not with warmth, but with more heat. sīpihkosiw thought it was just a ploy when askihtakosiw called out to her. “aswīthihta, kisisow acahkos.” – (Be careful, the star is very hot).
It was too late; the star grabbed the left fin of sīpihkosiw and did not let go. askihtakosiw stopped because she knew it was too late. She knew it was all over for her dear friend that she loved so much. Her maternal instincts wounded her heart, as her friend became absorbed into the raging hot star. sīpihkosiw added to the heat of the star and it became the sun. The star just needed the fuel to become a sun and provide light and warmth to the dying planet that was on its last span of existence.
askihtakosiw floated idle by as her friend was no more. pīsim (the sun) called out to askihtakosiw: “kinanāskomitināwāw, īmīthīk kīkwāy kita mīkiyān, pimācīhowin.” – (I thank you both, you both gave me something that I can give, life).
pīsim was happy but not sad for sīpihkosiw because she was now a part of something big, renewed life for the dying people. askihtakosiw was sad to have lost her friend. What would she do now? pīsim told her that she can do a very great thing, and that is to give something for the benefit of the dying planet and its people, her body.
pīsim said to askihtakosiw, “kinawāpahta anima kawāwīyiyāk, ikota kowisimo, ikwa kita waniskāwak nīhithowak kita wīkicik, kiyaw.” – (Look at the circular thing, there go to sleep, there the Cree’s will wake up and live on, your body).
Ever since that time, when time began, turtle island became the home of the people, the beginning of time immemorial.
Based on Allen Morrow’s artwork
mihkināhk – turtle
mihkināhkwak – turtles
sīpihkosiw – blue (animate colour)
askihtakosiw – green (animate colour)
iskotiw – fire
acahkos – star
pīsim – sun
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nisīmis and her Custom Made Woodland Cree Clock
Two weeks ago, nisīmis (my younger sister) lent me $40. Last week, I showed her my Woodland Cree clock and told her maybe I should make them with personal pictures as a background. She thought it was a good idea and then asked me to make her a clock with her sons as the background to pay for the $40 bucks I owe her. I agreed and worked on it last night.
I had the picture laminated and placed it in a document frame. I took the glass out and replaced it with the laminated picture. It turned out okay and looks good. I choose a light plastic frame which is light enough to be held up by a thumb tack.
I just thought I would share the story and maybe give some ideas on what can be done with a custom clock. Have a good evening. maybe next time, I will try an 8×10 frame, this was an 8.5×11 frame so I would not have to cut the laminated picture.
nisīmis – my younger brother or sister
masinipīsinowin – picture or photograph
pīsimohkān – Clock
tipahikan – Hour
cipahikanis – Minutes
mīna āpihtāw tipahikan – Half past the hour
For example – 1:30 would be, piyak mīna āpihtāw tipahikan
Previous post about clocks:
FREE PDF DOWNLOADS – PLAINS & WOODLAND CREE CLOCK
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Nimosōm – nīstāw and I, fell through the ice
At the time of the incident, I was about 7 or 8 years and nīstāw (my cousin), James, was 8 or 9 years old. nimosōminān – (our grandfather) was getting ready to go somewhere when James and I decided we were going to follow him. He looked at us, “hāw māka, sipwītihtān” – (okay, let’s go), he said.
It was late winter, and the weather was warming up, but this morning was cool enough to harden the snow. The place he was going, was across the lake from our cabins, David’s cabin. David was an old friend of our grandfather’s and many times he would go visit him and have tea or coffee. tī iwī nitowi minihkwīyān – (I’m going to go drink some tea).
nimosōminān was walking far ahead of us while nīstāw and I were wrestling and joking, typical boys horsing around. We were about halfway through the lake when suddenly, crack! We fell through the ice, one leg each. His left leg and my right leg. I was almost up to my knee, while nīstāw fell past his knee. We fell forward, as he grabbed me to keep himself from going in. We got out safely and stood up to assess ourselves. Up ahead, nimosōminān stopped to look back, saw that we were okay and then kept on walking.
When we got to David’s cabin, nimosōminān mentioned to us that maybe we fell into a water hole in the ice. “matwāncī ikī pōsipathīk pīkwatahōpānihk” – (I wonder if you could have fell into a water hole in the ice?).
“namōwitha osām kayās dīpit iki twāhahk pīkwatahōpān.” – (It was not too long ago, that David chiseled a water hole in the ice).
James and I didn’t think so because most pīkwatahōpāna would be too small to fit two legs, maybe one leg but not two. I don’t remember if we tried finding it again because like I said, it was late winter, and the ice crusted snow was hard, and we could not find our exact trail. To this day, we still do not know what we fell into, but the ice did crack and maybe it was just a weak area. We didn’t stay at the scene at the time because we panicked and ran to go warm-up in David’s cabin.
nāpīsis – boy
nāpīsisak – boys
nīstāw – cousin (my father’s sister’s son)
nimosōm – my grandfather
kimosōm – your grandfather
nimosōminān – our grandfather (mine and somebody else’s grandfather, not you and me)
kimosōmino – our grandfather (yours and mine)
pīkwatahōpān – water hole in the ice
pīkwatahōpānihk – at the water hole in the ice
pīkwatahōpāna – water holes in the ice (plural)
māsihkī – wrestle
wawāyitwī – joke around, kidding around
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sākihitowikīsikāw – Valentine’s Day
Literally means, “Day of Love,” “Love Day,” or “Loving Day,” depending on who you ask. I prefer “Day of Love,” because it sounds more romantic.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all my followers. Feel free to like and share
Charlie
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Bear and Eagle – maskwa ikwa mikisiw
One wintry autumn day, maskwa was strolling along a path toward his sleeping spot for the winter. As he was walking, mikisiw was flying overhead to start his trek to the warmth of the south, to the warm rivers, lakes and other areas where game is plentiful during the cold, winter months.
maskwa called out to mikisiw, “tānisi, ikwāni cī sāwanohk iwī ispithayin?” – (Hello, are you flying south for the winter?)
“īhī” – (Yes), said mikisiw, “osām māna kāti akwatihk īkāsocik kinosīwak“– (because when it freezes, the fish are hiding under the ice).
“nīsta ikosi, ikā mīna kīway mīnisa, īyawis ipākihtīki” – “For me too but also because the berries are gone, they have all fallen” maskwa explained.
“mitho nipā maskwa, kihtwam kawāpimitin sīkwahki“ – “Have a good sleep maskwa, see you in the spring.” said mikisiw.
“kīsta mīna” – “You too,” relied maskwa.
Other translations:
maskwa – bear
mikisiw – eagle
mīnis – berry
mīnisa – berries
kinosīw – fish (singular)
kinosīwak – fish (plural)
Directions – These are terms that I heard being said.
North – kīwītinohk
South – sāwanohk
East – sākāstīnohk
West – pahkisimonohk
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640 LIKES –
Thank you all for your support, I didn’t realize the amount of likes I received from you fine people. I appreciate all the shares and LIKES. It wasn’t too long ago that 400 likes was such a privilege to receive, from such a great group of people. Thank you for following my page.
#CreeSimonSays – Thankful translation.
Background vector created by starline – www.freepik.com – Thumbs up icon use.
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FREE PDF Downloads – Plains & Woodland Cree Clock
This past week, there has been a great response to my DIY Cree clock posts. Unfortunately, I posted the images in haste and some mistakes were pointed out but I think I have them all corrected now. I am sorry if this has caused any inconvenience.
For my haste and mistakenly posting the clock images (now updated) , I have posted the following list of all the clocks I have on this website, in Plains & Woodland Cree, already for download in PDF format. Just download and print, easy. I am hoping to complete a Telling Time in Cree lesson next week, so please stay tuned for that.
PLAINS CREE – Y – PDF Downloads ⇓
Y-clock-in-cree_winter_sunset_01
Y-clock-in-cree_winter_sunrise_01
Y-clock-in-cree_white_button_01
Y-clock-in-cree_purple_button_01
Y-clock-in-cree_green_button_01
Y-clock-in-cree_fall_sunset_01
Y-clock-in-cree_blue_button_01
WOODLAND CREE – TH – PDF Downloads ⇓
TH-clock-in-cree_winter_sunset_01
TH-clock-in-cree_winter_sunrise_01
TH-clock-in-cree_white_button_01
TH-clock-in-cree_red_button_01
TH-clock-in-cree_purple_button_01
TH-clock-in-cree_green_button_01
TH-clock-in-cree_fall_sunset_01
TH-clock-in-cree_blue_button_01
I appreciate the great response from my followers. One of my former colleagues, Cynthia Cook, had a novel idea. She wants to download and print one of the clocks I have on this website and fit it into her old clock. I told her, it is a great idea and it would liven up an old boring clock that has been hanging on a wall for years. Why not give that a try.
Because of my mistake, I will have to reprint my clocks but at least the DIY Clock Tools are easy to transfer. Again, I apologize for my haste and hope you will take the time to re-download your favourite design. The previous blog posts will remain the same but the FREE CREE IMAGES page has updated images, check it out.
