Cree/English, English/Cree translations
Have you always wanted to learn Cree? Are there elders in your life that you'd like to be able to greet in their native tongue? The following are a few basic Cree words translated to English, and a few basic English words translated to Cree. Do you have a specific word or phrase you'd like translated? E-mail your request and we'll post a translation for you!
Astumik nitohtamok kitohcikewin ekwa Nehiyawetan Come listen to music and learn Cree
Tansi (tan si) hello, how are you?
Kiya (key ya) you
Astam (as tum) come here
Bring it (peta) bay ta
Listen (nitohta) nit toe ta
Grandfather (nimosom) knee mo som
Grandmother (nohkom) no kum
And (ekwa)
Now (anohc) a nooch
Please (mahti) ma tey
Yes (eha) ay ha
No (namoya) na moy ya
Thank-you (hiy, hiy)
(translated by Jeanette Lean)
Poetry
This is a poem written by my teacher, my colleague, my friend, Shirley. During my time volunteering at a major hospital in Edmonton I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of really great people. To be among those who value their time volunteering has been very positive. To the patients and staff who have been listening to the music I play - thank you.
Shirley has written a really interesting book of poem’s called “Hitchhiking in the Hospital” which relate to her experiences working at the hospital. After releasing the book she told me it included a poem about the volunteering I do at the hospital, playing the native flute for patients and staff in my spare time. I see her poem as a reward, just one of many rewards that volunteering can offer. Thank you, Shirley.
The Magic Flute
for Herb
His fingers are accustomed to turning
engines: adjusting valves; setting
the timing; repairing transmissions
and final drives. On his days off
he places carefully carved plugs
in flutes of cedar, cherry, chestnut,
holds clean fingers over the holes
and blows an improvised melody
that comes from his heart
and speaks to the hearts of those
who hear the clear notes
float through the ward.
He plays the melancholy tune of being
trapped in these beds, in this place,
the despondency that fills their heads,
then lifts them to a different space
with a different key.
Nurses pause in their work, absorb
the sound, the beauty of the polished
wood and leather fringes that decorate
the flutes. They move away, a smile
playing on their lips.
—Shirley Serviss
From Hitchhiking in the Hospital
Stories
Love Flute
A Story by Paul Goble
A long time ago, there lived a young man who was very shy. He was brave in battle, and led the buffalo hunt with courage, yet when it came to speaking his love to the girl he wanted to marry, he was too shy to speak. He would stand helplessly, his eyes cast to the ground, while other young men stood with their courting blankets outside the tipi of the girl's father.
The young man thought about the girl day and night. In his dreams she was still there before his eyes, yet even in his dreams he lacked the courage to tell her of his love.
He watched her from a distance when she fetched water from the river, and his heart was heavy when he saw the other young men who talked to her so easily, whistled to her to gain her attention, and in a hundred ways vied for her love. The young man was sure that the girl did not notice him.
One day, his heart aching, he left the camp and wandered alone. In despair he drew his bow and without a thought he let fly an arrow into the air.
To his amazement the arrow stayed aloft. It seemed to him that the arrow pointed ahead. He followed the direction of the arrow and found that it moved ahead at a steady pace which he could follow. He followed the arrow all day, and when evening came the arrow fell to earth beside a stream.
He slept beside the stream, and in the morning shot another arrow into the sky. Again the arrow stayed aloft, and led him on. That evening it, too, sank to earth beside a stream. This continued for a total of four days.
On the fourth day the young man slept at the edge of a forest. In that half-dream state between waking and sleep, two Elk Men appeared to him, and told him that they had come to help him. "We have come to give you this flute", one said, and when he blew into the flute he carried, the sound was so beautiful that even the forest stood breathlessly listening.
The Elk Man told him, "This flute is made from the wood of the cedar, because cedars grow where the winds blow. Woodpecker made these finger holes in the flute with his beak."
The other Elk Man told him "All the birds and animals helped to make this flute, and their voices sing within it. When you play this flute for the girl you love, all our voices sing with you. Your music will speak the words of love that your voice alone cannot."
Then the Elk Men were gone, but there, lying on sage leaves, was the flute. The young man set off towards his home, his heart light. He played the flute as he walked, and the cranes joined in his song. For four days he walked, playing his music, and listening to the sounds of the animals and birds. He imitated the sounds of the animals on his flute, and from those sounds he made melodies.
As evening drew near on the fourth day, he reached the hill above his camp. There he paused to play his flute, and the sounds of the beautiful music he made carried into the camp and thrilled the heart of every woman there.
But one woman, the girl he loved, knew that the music spoke straight to her heart. The girl left her tipi and joined the young man on the hill. She listened to the words of love that his music spoke more eloquently than his voice could express. "I love you. I love you."