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BROUGHT TO YOU BY ISLAND SAVINGS CREDIT UNION, A DIVISON OF FIRST WEST CREDIT UNION
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tansi cuzzins!
I hope this email finds you well this Friday, October 27th. As the painful loss of life in the Middle East continues, I know a lot of us are feeling upset and powerless. I am not able to offer anything other than that which has been handed down to me: my cultural understanding of the world, including my language.
We have now reached week thirty-five of studying the Y dialect of Cree. We are very close to the end of our language journey. After this email, only two lessons remain.
Each week, readers have followed along with me as I learn more about my language using a sacred type of alphabet called Spirit Markers (also known as "syllabics").
The Spirit Marker chart we're using is called a Star Chart and it is below. It's oriented opposite of how "western" maps are – North goes on the bottom for us, and South is at the top.
You can find past lessons on the website here. Soon, all the lessons will be uploaded and available as an email course for anyone who would like to start from the beginning.
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From Esoteric.Codes' interview with Jon
Corbett.
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We're on the very last branch of the Star Chart, which extends in the northeast direction.
The Spirit Marker we're looking at today is ᔭ, which is pronounced 'ya.'
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This is the short form of the vowel.
When we put a dot on top of the Spirit Marker, like so ᔮ, the vowel becomes longer, as you can see below.
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Our word of the week is a good one. It connotes many different things, but all of them make sense from a cultural viewpoint.
The word is ᑭᔮᒼ (kiyâm) and it means all of the following:
oh well
it's okay
never mind
think nothing of it
so much for this
anyway
rather
let it be
let there be no further delay
please
let's go then
do so
quietly
As you can see from the dot on top of the ᔮ, this word contains the long version of the vowel. Listen to a pronunciation of it here.
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Many folks have written about this word. Chelsea Vowel has a post about it on her blog âpihtawikosisân.
Arden Ogg posted a funny joke about it on the Cree Literacy Network.
Both articles are insightful and I enourage you to check them out!
That brings us to the end of today's newsletter. hiy hiy for walking with me on this journey, as I explore my language and its sacred alphabet.
ᑭᓇᓈᐢᑯᒥᑎᓄᐤ (kinanâskomitinow) I am grateful for all of you and the community we're building together.
Aunty Eden
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Eden Fineday is a nehiyaw iskwew and the publisher of IndigiNews. She is a also a mom, writer and student of nehiyawewin. She lives with gratitude as an uninvited guest on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), səl̓ ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Peoples.
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