Urban Native Magazine and Regina Aboriginal Professionals Association have launched a photograph challenge (for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) in honour of National Aboriginal History Month. They’re using the Twitter hashtag #NAHM2015PhotoADay.
Here at the Cree Literacy Network, we’ve decided to play along, by gathering the images suggested – but (with help from Solomon Ratt) captioning them in Cree.
For Day Twenty-nine, the word is Dream Catcher:
Another word that Solomon has made up to suit our purposes, since Dream Catchers are not really a Cree tradition.
pawâmawin-nawatônikan / ᐸᐚᒪᐏᐣ ᓇᐘᑑᓂᑲᐣ
“thing that catches dreams”
Not Cree perhaps, but still a beautiful tradition, documented with exquisite care by my dear late friend, physical anthropologist Cath Oberholtzer, in her book, “Dream catchers: legend, lore and artifacts”. Firefly Books Ltd., New York. 2012.
Cath’s book is the foundation of the following online piece from the Museum of Ontario: http://archaeologymuseum.ca/dream-catchers/
One Response
Just wondering how to spell dream catcher in Cree. I need to know for a project. In class we read a story about the months and how animals and notes on a flute relate. Thank you for teaching us about your culture and religion 🙂