The Rocky Cree communities are the six First Nation communities in Manitoba that live along the “Churchill River”. The discovery of this long lost Indigenous woman will now serve as an impetus for reviving the Rocky Cree language.
William Dumas, works as the First Nations Language & Culture Facilitator for Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) and he is worried about the survivability of the Rocky Cree language given that it is spoken less and less and is only being spoken by the older generation, says Dumas in a “YouTube video“ filmed at Paint Lake in the Traditional Territory of the Rocky Cree. Dumas hopes to preserve the Rocky Cree Language by documenting the “language, history, concepts, and holistic way of life of the Rocky Cree … directly from the knowledge keepers”. Dumas also wants to develop an educational Resource App to assist Indigenous Students with the retention of the Rocky Cree language. The seven year project is its second year and is been done in conjunction with The University of Winnipeg, the Indigenous Inclusion Directorate of the Manitoba Government and MFNERC.
It is hoped the resource will become part of the regular Manitoba educational curriculum. The project is one of the key recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation’s 94 Calls To Action. There is additional info at this link.