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PM 986 A332 2009 gr.10-12 CURR GD HIST UniversityoiAlbertaLibra 1620 2793246 4 CREE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y This program ofstudies is intended for students who began their study ofCree language and culture in Grade 4. Itconstitutes the last three years ofthe Cree Language and CultureNine-year (9Y) Program (Grade 4 to Grade 12). PHILOSOPHY Four aspects common to Mother Earth in Nehiyaw worldview that can be honoured in the classroom The Nehiyaw (Cree) worldview is not a polarized are: view but a holistic view. It is not this or that but • the interconnectedness ofall things this and that. It holds that all life forms are • the connectionto the land and community interconnected and that life is sacred. Human • the dynamic and changing nature ofthe world beings are not at the top of a ladder but are one • the strength that develops in power with not part ofa sacred circle. Emotional, physical, mental power over. and spiritual realms are not separate but recognized as partofthe whole. Language proceeds from the worldview of a culture. The Nehiyaw worldview and philosophy Traditionally, responsibility within the Nehiyaw is embedded inthe language and culture. It is also culture primarily involved contrib—uting to the evident in the Nehiyaw pedagogy and ways of well-being and success of the group the family, learning. extended family and community. Leadership was developed through service to the community, and cooperation and helping others were crucial to RATIONALE FOR LEARNING CREE survival. Traditional Nehiyaw culture revolves {NEHIYAWEWIN) around the connection to Mother Earth and the relationship with family and community. Nehiyawewin (the Cree language) ekimiy'kowisiyahk (is a gift of the The concept of Mother Earth in Nehiyaw CxQdiXovlOmdmawi Ohtdwimdw). Elders are the worldview not only encompasses the land but also keepers ofthe language and, consequently, ofthe all animals, minerals, rocks, water, plant life and beliefs and culture. Indeed, language and culture all interconnectedness with humans. The are inextricably woven. Nehiyawak (Cree people) do not use the products and minerals of Mother Earth as commodities but regard them as relatives and treat them with the utmost respect. Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y /l ©AlbertaEducation,Alberta, Canada (2009) Ex LlBRIS Universitatis Albertensis The importa E ELDERS, (Cree langu ftEEPERS AND Dr. Anne Anderson, who states in the forewords to COMMUNITY EXPERTS her Metis Cree resource books that the way to a people's heart is through their language. The wisdom of the Elders is central to cultural learning according toNehiyaw perspective. Elders According to Canada's 2006 Census, there are are the "keepers of knowledge," and it is their 87 285 Cree speakers in Canada. Cree is one of guidance that the Nehiyawak seek as they strive the most widely spoken languages in Canada in for balance in their relationships with Omdmawi various dialects. Ohtdwlmdw, the natural world, other people and themselves. The value oflearning Nehiyawewin, to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, is enormous. It Alberta Education acknowledges the necessity of permits insight into a worldview of spiritual and guidance from the Elders, other knowledge natural dimensions. When one speaks the keepers and community experts ifthis program is language, Elders and their wisdom become truly to reflect Nehiyaw perspectives and content. accessible. Learning Nehiyawewin also enhances Each community wishing to establish a language one's self-esteem by strengthening cultural and culture program must turn to its own Elders, identity. Use oflanguage is also the best means of knowledge keepers and community experts for transmitting culture to the next generation. guidance. It is only in this way that Indigenous language and culture programs can succeed in achieving the goal of language revitalization. The NATURE OF THE CREE LANGUAGE Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y (NEHIYAWEWIN) Program of Studies has been developed based on the support and advice of various Elders, Nehiyawewin is one of many Indigenous community experts and knowledge keepers from languages within the Algonquian family of Treaty 6 First Nations, Treaty 8 First Nations, the languages. The Cree "Y" dialect that is used in Metis Nation ofAlberta and the Metis Settlements this program of studies is one of the five major and on the advice of iVe/zzyavv-speaking teachers dialects in Ca—nada. Nehiyawewin is a language of from provincial and band-controlled schools. relationships relationships to Omdmawi Ohtdwlmdw (the Creator), to others (kinship) and Oral Tradition to Kikdwlnaw Askiy (Mother Earth), which encompasses all living things. It is a rich and In Nehiyaw culture, oral tradition has been the complex language because it relates to kinship, most important method for passing information nature and spirituality. and knowledge from one generation to another. Students need to be taught to value and respect The Roman orthography recommended for the oral tradition. instruction of Nehiyawewin is the Pentland orthography, which is based on the Cree syllables Storytellers have always been respected within of standard orthography. The "Y" dialects of the traditional Nehiyaw culture. Storytellers carry Plains and WoodlandNehiyawakofAlberta use 14 within their stories the legends, spiritual truths and English letters, ofwhich 8 are consonants (c, k, m, history of the Nehiyawak. Stories pass on the n, p, s, t and h), 3 are short vowels (a, i, o), 4 are values and beliefs that are important to the long vowels (a, i, o, e), and "w" and "y" are listed Nehiyawak, and stories preserve the language. as semi-vowels. A sound variation occurs within Storytellers speak from the heart, and the listener the same dialect based on regional and cultural listens from the heart. differences. 2/ Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y (2009) ©AlbertaEducation, Alberta,Canada There are many types ofstories. Sacred stories are Our Relationship with Ourselves only told in the winter, unless special permission is given. Some stories are short, with a particular Each person is born sacred and complete. message or moral, and most are full of humour. Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw has given each person the Many stories are open-ended, long extended gift of a body and the choice to care for and use stories with many levels ofmeaning. that body with respect. Stories are repeated over and over and change over Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw has given each person the time to reflect life in the community. As listeners capacity and choice to learn. mature and gain life experience, the meanings and lessons in the stories reveal themselves in different "I had no schooling. When I was akid, I used to watch ways. What one discovers in a story as a child can people steadily. I would go to my grandmother and she be very different from what he or she discovers as toldmewhatrulesto follow." an adult. A story written on paper becomes frozen — VernonMakokis,SaddleLake,Alberta in time, whereas an oral story remains a living, (This passage is in relation tothe Nehiyaw protocol and flexible and dynamic part ofculture and language. its importance to traditional Nehiyaw culture and ceremonies.) Spirituality Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw has given each person Although the Elders strongly recommend that the talents or strengths to be discovered and the choice connection to Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw be to develop and share the gifts. interwoven throughout the program ofstudies, the developers and Elders themselves respect that individuals/teachers may not want to ASSUMPTIONS teach/promote this view. Above all, one's individual integrity is respected. The following statements are assumptions that have guided the development process of this Our Relationship with the Natural World program ofstudies: People are not greater than the things in nature. • Language is communication. The natural world has its own laws that must be • All students can be successful learners of respected ifpeople are going to be sustained by it. language and culture, although they will learn People are identified by the land they have in a variety ofways and acquire proficiency at historically inhabited and on which they have varied rates. learned to survive. Even today, it is necessary to • All languages can be taught and learned. live with the laws ofnature andto feel apartofit. • Learning Nehiyawewin leads to enhanced learning in both the student's primary Our Relationship with One Another language and in related areas of cognitive development and knowledge acquisition. This Agreement on rules enables cooperation and group is true for students who come to the class with strength, which is greater than individual strength. some background knowledge ofNehiyawewin Identity comes from being in respectful and develop literacy skills in the language. It relationships with others, particularly in the is also true for students who have no cultural family/clan, community and nation. or linguistic background in Nehiyawewin and are studying Nehiyawewin as a second language. Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y /3 ©AlbertaEducation, Alberta, Canada (2009) — CONCEPTUAL MODEL Each ofthese components is described more fully at the beginning of the corresponding section of Two curriculum frameworks developed under the this program ofstudies. Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education The Common Curriculum A Spiral Progression Frameworkfor Aboriginal Language and Culture Programs, Kindergarten to Grade 12, June 2000, Language learning and cultural teachings are and The Common Curriculum Framework for integrative, not merely cumulative. Each new International Langu—ages, Kindergarten to element that is added must be integrated into the Grade 12, June 2000 have provided guidance in whole of what has gone before. The model that the development of the Cree Language and best represents the students' language and cultural CultureNine-year Program (Grade 4 to Grade 12). learning progress is an expanding spiral. Students' progression is not only vertical (e.g., The aim of the Cree Language and Culture increased proficiency) but also horizontal (e.g., 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y Program of Studies is the broader range ofapplications and experience with development of communicative competence in more text forms, contexts and so on). The spiral Nehiyawewin and the development of Nehiyaw also represents how language and cultural learning cultural knowledge, skills and values. It is activities are best structured. Particular lexical important that the focus ofthis program ofstudies fields, learning strategies or language functions are be on interaction and meaningfulness, with special revisited at different points in the program, but attention and emphasis being given to oral from adifferent perspective, in broader contexts communication. or at a slightly higher level of proficiency each time. Learning is reinforced, extended and Four Components broadened with each successive pass. For the purposes of this program of studies, communicative competence in Nehiyawewin and Language Community the development of Nehiyaw cultural knowledge, Applications Competence Membership Strategies skills and values are represented by four CreeLanguage interrelated and interdependent components. andCulture30-9Y Applications deal with what the students will be able to do with the language, the functions they will be able to perform and the contexts in which CreeLanguageand they will be able to operate. CultureGrade8 (Nine-yearProgram) Language Competence addresses the students' knowledge ofthe language and their ability to use that knowledge to interpret and produce CreeLanguageand meaningful texts appropriate to the situations in CultureGrade-I (Nine-yearProgram) which they are used. Community Membership aims to develop the understandings, views and values of Nehiyaw culture. Strategies help students learn and communicate more effectively and more proficiently. 4/ Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y (2009) ©AlbertaEducation,Alberta, Canada UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA ORGANIZATION OF THE PROGRAM Specific Outcomes OF STUDIES Each general outcome is further broken down into General Outcomes specific outcomes that students are to achieve by the end ofeach course. The specific outcomes are General outcomes are broad statements identifying interrelated and interdependent. In most classroom the knowledge, skills and attitudes that students activities, a number of learning outcomes are are expected to achieve in the course of their addressed in an integrated manner. language learning experience. Four general outcomes serve as the foundation for this program The specific outcomes are categorized under of studies and are based on the conceptual model cluster headings, which show the scope ofeach of outlined previously. the four general outcomes. These headings are shown inthe table onthe following page. Applications [A] • Students will use and apply Nehiyawewin in The specific outcomes are further categorized by various situations and for different purposes at strands, which show the developmental flow of home, in school and in the community. learning from the beginning to the end of the program. However, a learning outcome for a Language Competence [LC] particular course will not be dealt with only in that • Students will be effective, competent particular year of the program. The spiral and comfortable as Nehiyaw speakers. progression that is part of the conceptual model {Okiskinamawdkanakka/tanihtdnehiyawewak) means that activities in the years preceding will prepare the ground for acquisition and in the years Community Membership [CM] following will broaden applications. • Students will live (wa)wetina(hk) (peacefully) with Kikdwinaw Askiy (Mother Earth*), others and themselves, guided by Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw (the Creator*). Strategies [S] • Students will know and use strategies to maximize the effectiveness of learning and communication. The order in which the general outcomes are presented in this program of studies does not represent a sequential order, nor does it indicate the relative importance of each component. The general outcomes are to be implemented in an integrated manner. discretionary (see further details on p. 32) Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y 15 ©AlbertaEducation,Alberta, Canada (2009) General Outcomes Applications Students will use and applyNehiyawewin in various situations and fordifferentpurposes at home, in school and in the community. to share information toexpress emotions andpersonal perspectives to getthings done to form, maintain andchange interpersonal relationships A-5 to enhance their knowledgeofthe world A-6 for imaginative purposes and personal ' Language enjoyment Competence Strategies Students will be effective, competent and Students will know and use strategies to comfortable asNehiyawspeakers. maximizethe effectiveness oflearning (Okiskinamawdkanakka/tanihtd and communication. nehiyawewak.) S-l language learning LC-1 attendto the form ofthe language S-2 languageuse LC-2 interpretand produce oral texts S-3 cultural learning LC-3 interpretand produce written and S-4 general learning visual texts LC-4 apply knowledge ofthesociocultural context apply knowledge ofhowthe language y is organized, structured and sequenced Community Membership Students will live (wa)wetina(hk) (peacefully)withKikdwinawAskiy (MotherEarth*), others and themselves, guided by Omdmawi Ohtdwimdw (theCreator*). CM-1 KikdwinawAskiy (MotherEarth*) CM-2 others CM-3 themselves * discretionary (see furtherdetails on p. 32) 6/ Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y (2009) ©AlbertaEducation,Alberta, Canada Guide to Reading the Program of Studies General Outcome for Language Competence Students will be effective, competent and comfortable as Nehiyaw speakers. (Okiskinamawdkanakka/ta nihtd nehiyawewak.) clusterheading LC-2 interpret and produce oral texts forspecific outcomes Cree Language and Cree Language and Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y Culture 20-9Y Culture 30-9Y Studentswillbeable to: a. understandthe main a understandthe main a understandavariety pointandsome pointandsome oflengthy oral texts M supporting details of supporting details of on unfamiliartopics y—i 7 'S lengthy oraltexts on lengthy oral texts on in guided and u CO familiartopics in avariety offamiliar unguided situations guidedsituations topics in guided situations a. produce shortoral a produce lengthy oral a produce lengthy oral texts onunfamiliar texts on familiar texts on avariety of topics in guided topics, providing familiar and «s CUD situations some details to unfamiliartopics, 7 supportthemain providing some 'S2, point, inguided detailsto supportthe Q. on situations main point, in guided and unguided situations a. manage simple, a sustain lengthy a converse, routine interactions interactions spontaneously, on tn <>L> with ease comprehensibly, with unfamiliarand c r.1) 03 C3O pausesto formulate familiartopics and -J C q=i oral textandto participate in self-correct discussions ^^-^-^ read each page horizontally forthe developmental flowof outcomes from course to course Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y II ©AlbertaEducation, Alberta, Canada (2009) 8/ Cree Language and Culture 10-9Y, 20-9Y, 30-9Y ©AlbertaEducation,Alberta, Canada