Cree ( / k r iː / KREE ; also known as Cree– Montagnais – Naskapi ) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 indigenous people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to Labrador . If considered one language, it is the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. The only region where Cree has any official status is in the Northwest Territories , alongside eight other aboriginal languages. There, Cree is spoken mainly in Fort Smith and Hay River .
47-588: Chisasibi ( Cree : ᒋᓵᓰᐲ , romanized: Cisâsîpî ; meaning Great River ) is a village and Cree reserved land (TC) on the eastern shore of James Bay , in Eeyou Istchee , an equivalent territory (ET) in Nord-du-Québec , Canada. It is situated on the south shore of La Grande River (the Grand River), less than 10 km (6.2 mi) from the river's mouth. Chisasibi is one of nine Cree villages in
94-428: A consonant , can be written four ways, each direction representing its corresponding vowel . Some dialects of Cree have up to seven vowels, so additional diacritics are placed after the syllabic to represent the corresponding vowels. Finals represent stand-alone consonants. The Cree language also has two semivowels . The semivowels may follow other consonants or be on their own in a word. The following tables show
141-461: A complex polysynthetic morphosyntax. A common grammatical feature in Cree dialects, in terms of sentence structure, is non-regulated word order. Word order is not governed by a specific set of rules or structure; instead, "subjects and objects are expressed by means of inflection on the verb". Subject, Verb, and Object (SVO) in a sentence can vary in order, for example, SVO, VOS, OVS, and SOV. Obviation
188-802: A full-stop glyph ( ⟨᙮⟩ ) or a double em-width space has been used between words to signal the transition from one sentence to the next. For Plains Cree and Swampy Cree , Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) uses fourteen letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet to denote the dialect's ten consonants ( ⟨p⟩ , ⟨t⟩ , ⟨c⟩ , ⟨k⟩ , ⟨s⟩ , ⟨m⟩ , ⟨n⟩ , ⟨w⟩ , ⟨y⟩ and ⟨h⟩ ) and seven vowels ( ⟨a⟩ , ⟨i⟩ , ⟨o⟩ , ⟨ā⟩ , ⟨ī⟩ , ⟨ō⟩ and ⟨ē⟩ ). Upper case letters are not used. For more details on
235-487: A land area of 480.29 km (185.44 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.0/km (15.6/sq mi) in 2021. As of the 2021 census the population of Chisasibi comprises 4,305 Cree , 345 other First Nations , 240 Inuit , 10 Métis , and 245 non-native people. The average age is 30.0 with 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. The majority of the population is between 15 and 64 years old (61.5 per cent), 31.1 per cent are under 15 and 7.8 per cent are 65 and older. Cree
282-637: A new community on the mainland's south shore, relocating the population and some 200 houses to the new site in 1981. The village was renamed Chisasibi (official name: Cree Nation of Chisasibi ). At the same time, the Fort George Relocation Corporation was formed to oversee the relocation. Chisasibi is the most northern Cree village accessible by road and the northernmost community with year-round road access in eastern North America. A 90 km (56 mi) paved road, running from Radisson and parallel to La Grande River , connects Chisasibi to
329-611: A non-Indigenous language as their mother tongue Around 76,4 per cent of the population speak English, with 3.5 per cent speaking French, 15.7 per cent speaking both English and French, and 4.4 per cent speaking neither. There has been criticism of the Quebec language policy with respect to native languages, particularly Cree, many related to Hydro-Québec 's hydroelectric dam project in the James Bay region. The Cree School Board operates Waapinichikush Elementary School (with 788 students) and
376-508: A population of 35,151,728. Three provinces' and one territory's population grew faster than Canada's overall population increase: Yukon – a 12.1 per cent increase, Prince Edward Island – an 8 per cent increase, British Columbia – a 7.6 per cent increase, and Ontario – a 5.8 per cent increase. The rapid growth in Yukon is largely credited to immigration and migration from within Canada. At the other end of
423-593: A work. The vowel ē /eː/ , used in southern Plains Cree, is always long and the grapheme ⟨e⟩ is never used. In northern Plains Cree the sound has merged with ī , and thus ⟨ē⟩ is not used at all. The use of unmarked ⟨o⟩ and marked ⟨ō⟩ for the phonemes /u/ and /oː/ emphasizes the relationship that can exist between these two vowels. There are situations where o can be lengthened to ō , as for example in ᓂᑲᒧ! nikamo! 'sing (now)!' and ᓂᑲᒨᐦᑲᐣ! nikamōhkan! 'sing (later)!'. In alphabetic writing,
470-512: Is 825.11 km (318.58 sq mi). The Cree have lived in the region for many centuries but were nomadic. In 1803, the Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort George, a trading post on the north shore which was relocated to the largest island at the mouth of La Grande River in 1837. Fort George became a permanent village as the local Cree population abandoned their nomadic way of life in the early 20th century and settled nearby. In 1940, its population
517-458: Is also a key aspect of the Cree language(s). In a sense, the obviative can be defined as any third-person ranked lower on a hierarchy of discourse salience than some other (proximate) discourse-participant. "Obviative animate nouns, [in the Plains Cree dialect for instance], are marked by [a suffix] ending –a , and are used to refer to third persons who are more peripheral in the discourse than
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#1732851073219564-578: Is available in Chisasibi, including vocational and general education. Chisasibi has a subarctic climate ( Köppen Dfc ), typical of the central latitudes of Quebec, with cold and snowy winters and mild, rainy summers. Cree language Endonyms are: Cree is believed to have begun as a dialect of the Proto-Algonquian language spoken between 2,500 and 3,000 years ago in the original Algonquian homeland , an undetermined area thought to be near
611-499: Is not phonologically transparent, which means gender must be learned along with the noun. As is common in polysynthetic languages, a Cree word can be very long, and express something that takes a series of words in English. For example: kiskinohamātowikamikw know. CAUS . APPL . RECP .place kiskinohamātowikamikw know.CAUS.APPL.RECP.place 'school' ( lit. 'knowing-it-together-by-example place') This means that changing
658-407: Is spoken as the first language in Chisasibi, in addition to English, as a primary language for official dealings. The mother tongue of the majority of the residents is Cree at 81.3 per cent, with 6.6 per cent for other indigenous languages . For Canada's official languages , English is the mother tongue for 8.4 per cent and French for 2.9 per cent of the population. In addition 0.7 per cent report
705-530: Is used in Eastern dialects where s and š are distinct phonemes. In other dialects, s is used even when pronounced like [ʃ] . ⟨l⟩ and ⟨r⟩ are used natively in Moose and Attikamek Cree, but in other dialects only for loanwords. The stops, p , t , k , and the affricate, c , can be pronounced either voiced or unvoiced, but the symbols used for writing these sounds all correspond to
752-453: Is used. John John cî Q kî-mîciso-w PST -eat- 3SG 2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census , which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is slightly lower than the response rate for
799-457: The James Bay Road (French: Route de la Baie James ). The James Bay Road (formerly part of Route 109 ) was built from 1971 to 1974 as part of the James Bay hydroelectric project and connects Matagami to Radisson. Chisasibi Airport is located 1.7 nautical miles (3.1 km; 2.0 mi) northwest of the village and Air Creebec operates scheduled service from this airport. Though this is
846-450: The door-to-door survey of individuals and households who had not completed the census questionnaire by late May or early June. Canvassing agents wore masks and maintained a physical distance to comply with COVID-19 safety regulations. In early May 2021, Statistics Canada began sending mailings to households throughout Canada containing instructions for completing the census questionnaire. The questionnaires could be completed by returning
893-469: The proximate third person". For example: Sam Sam wâpam- ew see- 3SG Susan- a Susan- 3OBV Sam wâpam- ew Susan- a Sam see-3SG Susan-3OBV "Sam sees Susan." The suffix -a marks Susan as the obviative, or 'fourth' person, the person furthest away from the discourse. The Cree language has grammatical gender in a system that classifies nouns as animate or inanimate. The distribution of nouns between animate or inanimate
940-480: The syllabaries of Eastern and Western Cree dialects, respectively: Speakers of various Cree dialects have begun creating dictionaries to serve their communities. Some projects, such as the Cree Language Resource Project, are developing an online bilingual Cree dictionary for the Cree language. Cree syllabics has not commonly or traditionally used the period ( ⟨.⟩ ). Instead, either
987-409: The *k > /tʃ/ sound change (BC–QC) while Montagnais encompasses the territory where this sound change has occurred (QC–NL). These labels are very useful from a linguistic perspective but are confusing as East Cree then qualifies as Montagnais. For practical purposes, Cree usually covers the dialects which use syllabics as their orthography (including Atikamekw but excluding Kawawachikamach Naskapi),
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#17328510732191034-522: The 2016 census. It recorded a population of 36,991,981, a 5.2% increase from 2016. It will be succeeded by Canada's 2026 census . Consultation on census program content was from September 11 to December 8, 2017. The census was conducted by Statistics Canada , and was contactless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada . The agency had considered delaying the census until 2022. About 900 supervisors and 31,000 field enumerators were hired to conduct
1081-474: The 2021 census are: Statistics Canada links income and related information obtained from the Canada Revenue Agency , and immigration status obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada , to the census responses. The 2021 Canadian census included new questions "critical to measuring equity, diversity and inclusivity". For the first time, questions were asked about commuting methods and
1128-660: The Cree Nation of Chisasibi Office. Other Cree villages near Chisasibi are Whapmagoostui , 200 km (120 mi) to the north in Nunavik , on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay near the Northern village of Kuujjuarapik , and Wemindji , about 100 km (62 mi) to the south. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Chisasibi had a population of 4,985 living in 1,056 of its 1,281 total private dwellings an increase of 2.3% from its 2016 population of 4,872. With
1175-466: The Cree dialects involves the palatalisation of Proto-Algonquian *k : East of the Ontario–Quebec border (except for Atikamekw), Proto-Algonquian *k has changed into /tʃ/ or /ts/ before front vowels. See the table above for examples in the * kīla column. Very often the Cree dialect continuum is divided into two languages: Cree and Montagnais. Cree includes all dialects which have not undergone
1222-595: The Cree expanded out of their homeland near James Bay because of access to European firearms. By contrast, James Smith of the Museum of the American Indian stated, in 1987, that the weight of archeological and linguistic evidence puts the Cree as far west as the Peace River Region of Alberta before European contact. The Cree dialect continuum can be divided by many criteria. Dialects spoken in northern Ontario and
1269-527: The Great Lakes. The speakers of the proto-Cree language are thought to have moved north, and diverged rather quickly into two different groups on each side of James Bay . The eastern group then began to diverge into separate dialects, whereas the western grouping probably broke into distinct dialects much later. After this point it is very difficult to make definite statements about how different groups emerged and moved around, because there are no written works in
1316-581: The James Bay Eeyou School, a high school, which has 494 students French : École Eeyou De La Baie James ; Cree : ᒉᐃᒥᔅ ᐯᐃ ᐄᔨᔨᐤ ᒋᔅᑯᑎᒫᒑᐅᑭᒥᒄ ). The Eeyou School opened in 1980 . Previously, the school provided boarding services for high schoolers from further afield of the James Bay region, such as Eastmain , Whapmagoostui , and Wemindji , as (at the time) all high school classes in the region were located in Chisasibi. In addition, adult education
1363-757: The Plains Cree [j] that is [ð] in Rocky Cree as ⟨ý⟩ . Similarly, in dictionaries focused on Western Swampy Cree, Woods Cree may readily substitute ⟨ē⟩ with ⟨ī⟩ , while materials accommodating Woods Cree will indicate the Western Swampy Cree [n] that is [ð] in Woods Cree as ⟨ń⟩ . Atikamekw uses ⟨c⟩ [ ʃ ], ⟨tc⟩ [ t͡ʃ ], and ⟨i⟩ [ j ] (which also serves as ⟨i⟩ [ i ]). Eastern James Bay Cree prefers to indicate long vowels (other than [eː] ) by doubling
1410-423: The census counted transgender people and people of non-binary gender . Canada has been noted in this instance to be the first country to provide census data on transgender and non-binary people. The 2021 census recorded a total federal population of 36,991,981, living in 14,978,941 of its 16,284,235 private dwellings. With a land area of 8,788,702.80 km (3,393,337.12 sq mi), its population density
1457-455: The language phonetically. Cree is always written from left to right horizontally. The easternmost dialects are written using the Latin script exclusively. The dialects of Plains Cree, Woods Cree, and western Swampy Cree use Western Cree syllabics and the dialects of eastern Swampy Cree, East Cree, Moose Cree, and Naskapi use Eastern Cree syllabics . In Cree syllabics, each symbol, which represents
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1504-548: The languages to compare, and descriptions by Europeans are not systematic; as well, Algonquian people have a tradition of bilingualism and even of outright adopting a new language from neighbours. A traditional view among 20th-century anthropologists and historians of the fur trade posits that the Western Woods Cree and the Plains Cree (and therefore their dialects) did not diverge from other Cree peoples before 1670, when
1551-468: The long vowel /eː/ has merged with /aː/ . However, the most transparent phonological variation between different Cree dialects are the reflexes of Proto-Algonquian *l in the modern dialects, as shown below: The Plains Cree, speakers of the y dialect, refer to their language as nēhi y awēwin , whereas Woods Cree speakers say nīhi th awīwin , and Swampy Cree speakers say nēhi n awēwin . Another important phonological variation among
1598-620: The most northern village, this is not where the road ends. From La Grande-1 generating station (LG-1), the road continues north to a location called Longue Pointe (Long Point). It is the farthest north one can go by road east of the Hudson Bay . Many Cree in Chisasibi engage in hunting, trapping, and fishing activities, but all catch is for local consumption. Other economic activity includes local services (health care and education), employment by Hydro-Québec and some hospitality services. An elected Chief, Deputy Chief, and Council help administer
1645-705: The paper questionnaire, or by phone or online by using an access code provided in the mailing. Statistics Canada expected about 80% of households to complete the questionnaire online. It was also available in large-print , braille , audio, and video formats. The questionnaire questions were available in a number of languages ( Arabic , simplified and traditional Chinese, Italian , Korean , Persian , Portuguese , Punjabi , Russian , Spanish , Urdu , and Vietnamese ) and indigenous languages ( Atikamekw , Denesuline , Nunavik and Nunavut Inuktitut , Mohawk , Montagnais , Naskapi , Northern Quebec Cree , Ojibwe , Oji-Cree , Plains Cree , Swampy Cree , and Tłı̨chǫ ), but
1692-490: The phonetic values of these letters or variant orthographies, see the § Phonology section above. The /ð/ sound of Woods Cree is written ⟨th⟩ , or ⟨ð⟩ in more recent material. Plains and Swampy material written to be cross-dialectical often modify ⟨y⟩ to ⟨ý⟩ and ⟨n⟩ to ⟨ñ⟩ when those are pronounced /ð/ in Swampy. ⟨š⟩
1739-432: The questionnaire had to be completed in either English or French. The standard short-form questionnaire was to be completed by 75% of households. The other 25% completed a long-form questionnaire to collect data about the household's economic and social state, information about the occupied dwelling, and other data in addition to age, languages spoken, marital status, religious affiliation, and other basic data collected in
1786-723: The region, and is a member of the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec . The territory surrounding Chisasibi is part of the municipality Eeyou Istchee James Bay , of which parts are jointly managed by the municipalities of the Jamésie TE and the Cree Regional Authority of the Eeyou Istchee TE. The land area of the town is 491.63 km (189.82 sq mi) and the area of the associated Chisasibi Cree village municipality
1833-469: The short-form questionnaire. Those who completed the census questionnaire online could listen to a number of soundtracks on Spotify and YouTube prepared by Statistics Canada. Completing the questionnaire is a legal requirement, and those who refuse to do so may be fined up to $ 500. It must be completed by citizens of Canada, permanent residents, refugee claimants, and those with a study or work permit. The release dates for data by release topic from
1880-523: The southern James Bay, Lanaudière, and Mauricie regions of Quebec differentiate /ʃ/ (sh as in sh e ) and /s/ , while those to the west have merged the two phonemes as /s/ and in the east the phonemes are merged as either /ʃ/ or /h/ . In several dialects, including northern Plains Cree and Woods Cree, the long vowels /eː/ and /iː/ have merged into a single vowel, /iː/ . In the Quebec communities of Chisasibi , Whapmagoostui , and Kawawachikamach ,
1927-853: The term Montagnais then applies to those dialects using the Latin script (excluding Atikamekw and including Kawawachikamach Naskapi). The term Naskapi typically refers to Kawawachikamach (y-dialect) and Natuashish (n-dialect). The Cree dialects can be broadly classified into nine groups. Roughly from west to east: This table shows the possible consonant phonemes in the Cree language or one of its varieties. In dictionaries focused on Eastern Swampy Cree, Western Swampy Cree may readily substitute ⟨sh⟩ with ⟨s⟩ , while Lowland Moose Cree may readily substitute ⟨ñ⟩ with their ⟨l⟩ . In dictionaries focused on Southern Plains Cree, Northern Plains Cree may readily substitute ⟨ē⟩ with ⟨ī⟩ , while materials accommodating Rocky Cree will indicate
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1974-444: The unvoiced pronunciation, e.g. ⟨p⟩ not ⟨b⟩ , ⟨t⟩ not ⟨d⟩ , etc. The phoneme /t͡s/ is represented by ⟨c⟩ , as it is in various other languages . Long vowels are denoted with either a macron , as in ⟨ā⟩ , or a circumflex , as in ⟨â⟩ . Use of either the macron or circumflex is acceptable, but usage should be consistent within
2021-418: The use of punctuation has been inconsistent. For instance, in the Plains Cree dialect, the interrogative enclitic cî can be included in the sentence to mark a yes–no question such that this is sometimes considered to be sufficient without including a question mark (?). However, in many modern publications and text collections ( cf. The Counselling Speeches of Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw (1998) ) full punctuation
2068-466: The vowel, while the western Cree use either a macron or circumflex diacritic; as [eː] is always long, often it is written as just ⟨e⟩ without doubling or using a diacritic. While Western Cree dialects make use of ⟨o⟩ and either ⟨ō⟩ or ⟨ô⟩ , Eastern Cree dialects instead make use of ⟨u⟩ and either ⟨uu⟩ , ⟨ū⟩ , or ⟨û⟩ . Cree features
2115-467: The word order in Cree can place emphasis on different pieces of the sentence. Wolfart and Carroll give the following example by transposing the two Cree words: Cree dialects, except for those spoken in eastern Quebec and Labrador , are traditionally written using Cree syllabics , a variant of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics , but can be written with the Latin script as well. Both writing systems represent
2162-493: Was 4.21/km (10.90/sq mi). Canada's most- and least-populated provinces were Ontario and Prince Edward Island , respectively. Amongst the three territories, the Northwest Territories was the largest in terms of population, while Nunavut once again became the smallest territory after briefly overtaking Yukon in 2016. The population of Canada rose by 5.2 per cent federally since the 2016 census, which recorded
2209-516: Was about 750 and grew to almost 2,000 in 1980. In the mid-1970s, the construction of the James Bay hydro-electric project began, diverting upstream rivers into the La Grande watershed, increasing its flow significantly, resulting in erosion of Fort George Island (also called Governor's Island) and disruption to the formation of a solid ice cover in winter. In response, the Quebec Government built
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