Irene Calliou uses Cree language to give children a sense of pride and heritage

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FISHING LAKE - On the basement of the community hall is a temporary classroom that also serves as a lunchroom. There, while the school is under construction, Mrs. Irene Calliou shares a small piece of Cree culture with Metis children on the Fishing Lake Settlement.

Every schoolday, elementary children from ECS to Grade 6 are taught to speak and recognize some basis words and phrases in Cree.

They are all learning to count in the Native tongue. Some Grade 6ers can count to 50 or 100 and even the youngest at four years old can count up to five.

They learn all seasons and the names of the months as well as names of colors and days of the week.

Instruction includes the 14-letter alphabet. During testing, students are asked to name two or three things that start with each of the ten consonants.

The younger classes play games to juggle their memories. There's the relay race where kids pick cards from the top of a stack and try to remember, then name the objects before the other team. Everyone wants to win the race.

When Calliou plays Cree tapes about colors and numbers, many of the children sing along with the words.

Now in it's fourth year, the class is a favorite among students. The kids are even encouraged to talk in class. There is a small catch though, they must talk in Cree.

Although many of the children come from homes where Cree is known, somewhere along the line they were either not interested or not given the opportunity to pick up the language. In some cases, the grandparents speak only Cree and the small children can't even talk to them.

The Cree program allows for an Elder to come into the class and speak to the children. This is more commonly done in remote areas where the language is more dominant in the home. In Fishing Lake the students aren't able to fully understand Cree and so couldn't understand the many traditions and values that could be told and passed on by a Cree speaker.

The class is not a requirement in the school curriculum.

"If parents want their children to take Cree, they take it," said Mrs. Calliou. Not all the students are registered in the class. The ones that are taking it are doing very well.

"You can go out and ask the teenagers here," says Calliou, "not many of them know any Cree. It's a shame."

For Irene Calliou it's wonderful when small children talk to each other in Cree. She's passing on the language like her mother and grandmother did before her.

For a person to understand and accept other cultures they first must understand their own culture.

For a person to understand and accept other identities they must first learn to understand and accept the identity of their own.

Learning a little bit of the Cree language is but one aspect of being Metis. Maybe with this instruction they will feel the need and desire to learn more.

They will be able to communicate with the Elders who can, with their stories and mannerism, share other components. Children can use all the teachings to acquire a sense of pride in their heritage and in their identity as Metis children.