Cree club created to keep language alive

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Ed Lavallee is the co-ordinator of the newly formed Cree Speaking Club at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre.

When he realized he was slowly losing his language, he started the club that meets every Monday from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

The idea for the club began to percolate when many of his fellow Cree-speaking friends complained they were losing their ability to speak Cree as well.

"From the time you walk into the club until you leave at the end of it, all you speak is Cree and that is what I like seeing here. What I'm finding at this point is that people are interchanging Cree and English, and that is not what I like seeing. I like encouraging the club members to speak Cree only, for the two hours they are here like our ancestors did. I mean free-flowing Cree. The kind that keeps a good conversation going. We simply do not use enough Cree in our everyday conversations and many of us who speak Cree fluently do not live on our reserves or in the communities that we grew up in. We live in cities such as Edmonton, so we are often isolated from others who can speak Cree to us every day. Right now we could go more than two hours if we want and I believe that this will really take off soon," he said.

Lavallee said about half a dozen people come to the club on a regular basis. It's free to join and coffee and snacks are available.

There are a lot of Aboriginal people who speak Cree who work in mainstream jobs, in courts or hospitals and in other places. He said it is very important for these people to speak the language fluently.

"For example, they have to know how to say judge in Cree and how do you say lawyer in Cree, and how do you interpret the illnesses some of the people have. The person has to be a really good interpreter to interpret what is really being said. . .

"Our club wants to learn how to speak what you would call advanced Cree, so that we don't lose that ability. We want to bring in guest speakers to the club who are knowledgeable, speakers from different Cree First Nations communities to share the language with us in the club meetings. We also would like to do a bit of genealogy in Cree and, of course, the Cree names of different communities. For example, Edmonton before they named it was called Amiskwaciy, which means Beaver House in Cree and, of course, we want to learn all about the Cree syllabics, because I believe that people could also learn how to speak Cree using this method," he said.

"In our club we also like to tell stories and legends, so we would also like to tape some of the sessions for other people to use. Eventually it will happen. Right now the club is probably going to run until the end of May or June and then close for the summer months because a lot of people are on the powwow trail and going on vacations. We would like to begin the classes in the fall," he said.

Lavallee is from the Sturgeon Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan. He's lived in Edmonton for more than 30 years.