cree linguistics

                Naomi McIlwraith









nôhtâwiy opîkiskwêwin – Father Tongue                                                            









 .
I read about the –ikawi suffix
and the unspecified actor form,
wonder about the curiosities
of active or passive voice in Cree,
but mostly I yearn to learn
real Cree words, am eager to hear
nêhiyawêwin itwêwina in the air.
Want to hear your voice.
.
Food words like bread and tea
and water –
pahkwêsikan, maskihkîwâpoy,
êkwa nipiy.
.
Words for tree and bud and leaf –
mistik, osimisk, êkwa nîpiy.
.
Seasonal words for winter, spring,
summer, and fall –
pipon, miyoskamin,
nîpin, êkwa takwâkin.
.
Weather words like snow and rain,
sunshine and wind –
mispon êkwa kimiwan,
wâsêskwan êkwa yôtin.
.
More food words like cookie,
tomato, and cheese –
wîhki-pahkwêsikanis,
kihci-okiniy, êkwa
âpakosîsi-mîciwin.
.
Nature words for lake, mountain,
prairie –
sâkahikan, asinîwaciy,
paskwâw.
How to say picnic and camping –
papâ-mîcisowin êkwa kapêsiwin.
How we always picked bottles
when we went picnicking or camping –
kâkikê ê-kî-môsâhkinamâhk
môtêyâpiskwa ispî
kâ-kî-papâ-mîcisoyâhk
ahpô ê-nitawi-kapêsiyâhk.
.
How the sky is blue just now,
when it’s been grey for so long.
sîpihkonâkwan mêkwâc kîsik
mâka kinwês ê-kî-pihkonâkwahk.
.
I want to hear words for car and canoe
and toboggan and cradleboard –
sêhkêpayîs êkwa cîmân
napakitâpânâsk êkwa tihkinâkan.
Baby, boy, girl, man, and woman –
oskawâsis, nâpêsis, iskwêsis, nâpêw, êkwa iskwêw.
.
Kinship terms like mother and father –
nikâwiy êkwa nôhtâwiy.
Grandmother and grandfather –
nôhkom êkwa nimosôm.
My little siblings, sister and brother –
nîcisânak, nimis êkwa nistês.
Auntie and uncle –
nikâwis êkwa nôhcâwîs.
.
If only I had stopped long enough
to say “my girl” or “my boy” –
“nitânis” êkwa “nikosis”.
.
Words for old woman and old man –
nôcokwêsîs êkwa kisêyinîs.
Words for hard and soft,
loud and quiet –
ê-maskawâk êkwa ê-yôskâk
ê-sôhkihtâkwahk êkwa
ê-kâmwâtahk.
.
Words for the ground is hard –
ê-maskawahcâk,
the silence is loud –
ê-sôhkihtâkwahk kipihtowêwin,
your voice soft and quiet –
ê-miyotâmoyan êkwa ê-kâmwâtahk.
.
You always spoke so softly
like a steady rain on parched land.
kâkikê ê-ki-manâcimiyâhk
tâpiskôc kimiwan,
ê-pahkipêstâk
itê ê-pâhkwahcâk.
.
Maybe that’s why you sound
so far away now –
kiyâwihtâkosin êkwa anohc.
Verbs for listening and persevering –
ê-nitohtawiyan êkwa ê-âhkamêyihtamohiyan,
and loving and raising children –
ê-kî-sâkihiyâhk êkwa
kiya êkwa nikâwînân
ê-kî-nihtâwôsêyêk.
Words for birth and death and funeral –
ê-kî-miyo-pimâtisiyan, mâka
ispîhk ê-kî-kisipipayiyan
êkwa kikî-âstêsinin kitaywêpiwinihk.
.
Verbs for kind and just
and humble and soft-spoken –
ê-kî-kisêwâtisiyan
êkwa ê-kî-kwayaskwâtisiyan,
ê-kî-tapahtêyimisoyan
êkwa ê-kî-pêyâhtakowêyan.
.
The verb for soft-hearted –
ê-kî-yôskâtisiyan,
and how you had a soft spot
in your heart for all
Cree people –
ê-kî-yôskitêhêstawacik
kahkiyaw nêhiyawak.
.
Verbs for generous and caring –
ê-kî-sawêyimacik êkwa ê-kî-nâkatêyimacik.
Words for thoughtful and oh,
such good Cree speech –
ê-kî-kâh-kakihcihiwêyan,
ê-kî-miyo-tôtaman
tahtwâw ê-kî-nêhiyawêyan.
.
Words for being so good
at so many things –
ê-kî-nahîyan mistahi kîkway.
.
Words for sadness and regret –
nipîkiskâtisin êkwa kikîsinâtêyihtamâtin.
Because sickness stole your speech
and I came too late to listen –
osâm kitâhkosiwin
kipîkiskwêwin ê-kimotamâkoyan
êkwa ê-kî-mwêstasisiniyân
ka-nitohtâtân.
.
Yet now you’re whispering
and I’m listening –
mâka êkwa anohc âta ê-kîmwêyan
kina-nahihtâtin.




































....

elder eternal

GRANDMOTHER                                                    














Grandmother

always

comes

when

people make

fire

&

music together.

Sits

in the

not quite dark

beyond

edge of

firelight

near

where

little ones dance.

It is

their

feet

Grandmother moves.

                J.D. Whitney

....

aqua-inquiry

Ask Me                                                                                       






Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.




                           William Stafford


















.....

amen

Almost Sixty                                         

 

1

   

    No, I don’t know

    the way to get there.
       Two empty suitcases sit in the corner,
     if that’s any kind of clue.

2

    This spring night,

    everyone at the party
       younger than me
     except for one man.
        We give each other the secret password.

3

  Tears? Of course, but also the marsh grass

           near the Mississippi:
            your whispers and mine,
     and the dog’s long contented sighs.

                                 Jim Moore

...

due recognition

To My Fingers                                                                                              




          by






   Olav Hauge






 Oh, you fingers,
how many hours you've had
to slave for a cold brain
and a dead body!
And if I didn't write then
you would take to whispering.
Didn't the poems become good then!
When you were speaking with tongues of fire!










(Translated by Robert Hedin)

there's always an adventure

QUINK                                                                                             










1




Sick of ink (a professional worder)
I went into the biosphere
With two botanizers, a birder,
And a Leave‑No‑Trace‑Trained mountaineer.


We witnessed the sacred in several classes.
They showed me how elevations flatten
On a topo map. Through fine field glasses
We confirmed a quantity of Latin.






2




Idle by nature, sick of talk,
I went into the somewhat wild
With an undifferentiated dog,
An apple, a gum wrapper, and a six year old.




The crags scratched our eyeballs. A brace of Quink
Came burtling out of their whiskets. Old Breather
Whulphed. It wasn’t what you think,
Exactly. I guess you had to be there.












                                         Richard Kenney




















.....

contingencies of sight and soul

Riding in a car, at Dusk                                                                      










If you look carefully,
toward the brightest
yellow of sunset
high in a treeless sky,


or a few minutes later
when the pattern is lower
and closer to the man-made lake
where no trees are present,


or over beyond yonder hill
where trees and tall weeds
become silhouettes,
the sun itself willing
not to be seen or even thought of
until first morning light,


you can almost see God’s face,


followed by pink,
followed by blue,


followed by night so black
that hours later,
on the way home,
flashes of colored windows
from the camouflaged Belmont Abbey
pierce the dark I-85 like broken shards.


Tree, red,
tree, green,
tree, tree, tree, blue,
tree, orange,
tree, tree, purple:


Crayola colors glow like fallen stars
praying among the trees.










                      Helen Losse














...

trickster's constant dilemmas

from:  The Wishing Bone Cycle


of the  SWAMPY CREE














SHAKING PUMPKIN                                   










[1]





One time I wanted two moons
in the sky.
But I needed someone to look up and see
those two moons
because I wanted to hear him
try and convince the others in the village
of what he saw.
I knew it would be funny.
So, I did it.
I wished another moon up!
There it was, across the sky from the old moon.
Along came a man.
Of course I wished him down that open path.
He looked up in the sky.
He had to see that other moon!
One moon for each of his eyes!
He stood looking
up in the sky
a long time.
Then he suspected me, I think.
He looked into the trees
where he thought I might be.
But he could not see me
since I was disguised as the whole night itself!
Sometimes
I wished myself into looking like the whole day,
but this time
I was dressed like the whole night.
Then he said,
“There is something strange
in the sky tonight.”
He said it out loud.
I heard it clearly.
Then he hurried home
and I followed him.
He told the others, “You will not believe this,
but there are ONLY two moons
in the sky tonight.”
He had a funny look on his face.
Then all the others began looking into the woods.
Looking for me, no doubt!
“Only two moons, ha! Who can believe you?
We won’t fall for that!” they all said to him.
They were trying to send the trick back at me!
That was clear to me!
So, I quickly wished a third moon up there
in the sky.
They looked up and saw three moons.
They had to see them!
Then one man
said out loud, “Ah, there, look up!
up there!
There is only one moon!
Well, let’s go sleep on this
and in the morning
we will try and figure it out.”
They all agreed, and went in their houses
to sleep.
I was left standing there
with three moons shining on me.
There were three . . . I was sure of it.






[2]





One time
all the noises met.
All the noises in the world
met in one place
and I was there
because they met in my house.
My wife said, “Who sent them?”
I said, “Fox or Rabbit,
yes one of those two.
They’re both out for tricking me back today.
Both of them
are mad at me.
Rabbit is mad because I pulled
his brother’s ear
and held him up that way.
then I ate him.
And Fox is mad because he wanted
to do those things first.”

“Yes, it had to be one of them,”
my wife said.

So, all the noises
were there.
These things happen.
Falling-tree noise was there.
Falling-rock noise was there.
Otter-mud-sliding noise was there.
All those noises, and more,
in my house.

“How long do you expect to stay?”
my wife asked them. “We need some sleep!”

They all answered at once!

That’s how my wife and I
sometimes can’t hear well!
I should have wished them all away
first thing.






       this is an oral poem listened to
       by Howard Norman
        -   recited by Jacob Nibenegenesabe ( slowstream )


















































.....

some things i love

Your enchantment in a lonely wood,
The fight and color of a rainbow trout,
My in-basket empty and a new good book,
Binoculars fixed on a strange new bird,
Sadie’s point, and a covey of quail,
The end of a six-mile run in the rain,
Blue slope, soft snow, fast run, no fall,
A dovetail joint without a gap,
Grandchildren coming in our front door,
The same ones leaving in a day or two,
And life, till what rhymes with breath
Takes me from all things I share with you.






                              Jimmy Carter (  frmr president of USA  )














....

perceptions into the urbane

Life Studies                                       






1.


Hours stand around the clock
To be "struck"; yes, our time gets a little shorter
And we have a new bump or contusion
Or "hard knock" or two to show




2.


The cars stop and start up again
They are full of gas and shiny
And terribly expensive Look! in one second
Those two will crash, seriously injuring both drivers




3.


A game of chess is in progress
How precise and powerful the movement of the pieces is!
White is sure to mate in two moves
But no, he has bungled it




4.


Two boys are robbing a young man
One of them holds a knife against his throat
While the other takes his billfold and overcoat and umbrella
Now they hit him in the stomach with the umbrella




5.


We turn the pages of the book of poems
But our pleasure is short-lived: the poems
Are by a terrible poet For this
We have paid two dollars and forty-five cents!










                                                           Peter Schjeldahl






....