Culture strengthened

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SADDLE LAKE - Aboriginal communities across Canada wanting to preserve their cultural heritage may do well to look at the community-style effort of the Saddle Lake First Nations in strengthening their cultural spirit and identity.

The Cultural Education Centre at Saddle Lake is the focal point of activity aimed at cultural preservation, attracting the involvement of youth and Elders from the homes of this community, 90 miles northeast of Edmonton.

The Cultural Education Centre was established in 1974, to preserve and promote the cultural identity of the Saddle Lake Cree community, says acting director Randy Moses. Since then, the centre has established and expanded a cultural museum, hosted several education and awareness workshops and provides archival information services

to inquiring researchers.

The Saddle Lake Cultural Museum is a modern-day show piece which has attracted visitors from all over the world. The general comment of the signators of its guest book is that "these people are proud of their cultural heritage."

Photographs and artifacts line the walls, shelves and display cases depict the historical struggles and accomplishments of the Cree people of Saddle Lake.

In the spacious museum area, the eagle headdress and dancing garments with their intricate patterns and decorative beadwork are displayed alongside arrow heads, spears, drums and other artifacts from the ancestral past of the Cree nation.

This sort of display is seen in many major museums. The difference at the Saddle Lake museum is that most of the displayed items were donated by local residents.

Other displays vividly portray the lifestyle changes the community has gone through. The clothing, foods, shelter, tools for work or play and the modes of travel used are seen in the artifacts and pictures collected over the years.

The museum, a member of the Alberta Museum Association since 1984, is open

to the public on a weekday basis throughout the year.

The centre has also collected archival material and collected documents from Saddle Lake residents and other sources.

Video and audio tapings of workshops pertaining to culture have been produced by centre staff and are stored in the Saddle Lake archives.

A Cree language workshop held recently by the centre saw seven senior citizens joined together in a search for Cree words describing present day objects and activities. How do you say "computer," "satellite dish" and "metric." in Cree?" the Elders were asked. After a cordial conversation and a polite sharing of the reasons behind the suggested words, an agreement was reached on some phrases.

Cree words and phrases not presently used regularly were brought to the attention of Florence Moses, a linguist working with the Saddle Lake Cultural Education program.

The practice of giving Cree names to children by grandparents and the sites where former chiefs and leaders who have died are buried, were also discussed at the workshop.

Results obtained from these kinds of workshops will later be transferred into the teaching of the Cree language and culture, in Grades 1 to 12 at the Ochumanahoes School at Saddle Lake.

Voluntary participation by the Elders has worked well in the past and the centre will continue to work alongside the Elders in preserving the Cree language and culture, said Randy Moses.

Other services the Cultural Education Centre offers to the surrounding area includes museum tours to school groups, an audio and visual library, and demonstration

kits on crafts, such as moosehair tufting.

University scholars and others interested in the cultural richness of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada have also come to the centre for its information services.

But the people who use and benefit the most from the centre are the Saddle Lake people themselves.

Residents are regular visitors to the museum and are frequent users of the centre's services.

The people of Saddle Lake are going back to their cultural practices, as is evidentin the increase of round dances, sun dances, ghost dances and other ceremonial gatherings, according to Randy Moses.

As the saddle Lake motto states, "we have only just begun." The revival of cultural education in Saddle Lake is alive and well.